Name of the community:  Whangarei District
Country: New Zealand
Number of inhabitants: 71,400
Programme started year: 2001
International Safe Communities Network Membership: Designation year: 2006
There is currently no website containing information about the CIPP.

For further information contact:

Marion Bartrum (Weaver)
Service Manager
Public & Population Health
Northland District Health Board
Dairy House, Porowini Avenue
Private Bag 9742, Whangarei 0148
Ph:09 430 4101 ext 7892,
Marion.Bartrum@northlanddhb.org.nz

Info address for community as a whole: www.whangareinz.com  or www.wdc.govt.nz

The programme covers the following safety activities:
For the age group :

• Children 0 – 14
  -  Falls prevention – Well Child project change mats
  -  Falls prevention - caregiver education via safety checklists and group sessions
  -  Fire safety – caregiver education and home visits to install smoke alarms
  -  Child restraint caregiver education group sessions
  -  Safe 2 Go child restraint installation clinics and road side checks
  -  Child restraint subsidised rental schemes
  -  Water safety – Well Child project bath toys
  -  Playground safety seminars for school students/teachers /caretakers
  -  Playground safety assessments
  -  All injury education groups sessions for pre-schoolers and their carers
  -  Provision of child safety foundation updates
  -  Water Safety swimming programme
  -   Safe Summer project
  -   Pool fencing programme
• Youth 15 – 24 years
  -   Speed awareness campaigns and speed reduction education
  -   Drink driving programmes - including Shattered Dreams project and   -  Students Against Drink Driving (SADD) groups
  -   Fatal Vision programme – drink driving education in schools
  -   Alcohol Accord ‘Think Before You Buy Under 18s Drink’ Campaign
  -   Sports safety - injury prevention programmes in workplaces and   training institutions
  -   Safe Summer project
  -   AMO – Alcohol Management Programme
  -   Drivers license assistance courses
• Adults 25 – 64 years
  -    Slips Trips and Falls awareness programme
  -    Down with Speed campaign
  -    Driver fatigue stops
  -    Promotion of use of personal flotation devices
  -    Workplace Safety Management Practices programme
  -    ACC Accredited Employer (Partnership) Programme
  -    Fatal vision campaign – dangers of drink driving
  -    Driving - speed awareness campaigns and speed reduction education
  -    Safe Summer project
  -    Pool fencing programme
  -    AMO – Alcohol Management Programme
  -    Workplace Safety Evaluation Programme
• Older Adults 65+ years
  -    Falls prevention – modified Tai Chi programmes
  -    Falls prevention awareness campaign
  -    Falls prevention – Step Ahead
  -    Safe with Age – older drivers’ programme
  -    Driver fatigue campaign

In the following environments:

• Home
  -    Slips, trips and falls prevention
  -    Water safety – in baths and pools/spas
  -    Fire and burns prevention
• Traffic
  -    Speed awareness and reduction
  -    Fatigue awareness
  -    Safety belt and restraint use
  -    Driver licensing
  -    Pedestrian safety
  -    Cycle safety
  -    Older driver safety
  -    Drink driving
  -    Drivers license assistance courses
• Occupational
  -    Workplace Safety Management Practices programme
  -    ACC Accredited Employer (Partnership) Programme
  -    Workplace Safety Evaluation Programme
• School / Pre-school
  -    Playground safety
  -    Road safety
  -    Slips, trips and falls prevention
• Sports
  -    Alcohol Management Programme (AMO)
  -    Sports injury prevention
  -    Tai Chi classes for falls prevention
• Leisure
  -    Step Ahead programme
  -    Youth access to alcohol programme
  -    Summer safe project
  -    Water safety swimming programme
  -    Prevention of sale of alcohol to under 18’s
  -    Promotion of use of personal flotation devices

Violence prevention

Supporting national Injury Prevention strategy.

Suicide prevention

Supporting national Injury Prevention strategy.

Programmes aiming at “High-risk groups”

-    Plunket Well Child Project: Children 0 – 4 years: falls prevention, water safety, fire safety and safety in the car
-    Shattered Dreams / Fatal Vision: Youth 15–24 years: road safety, aimed at reducing speeding & alcohol-related harm
-    Child restraint campaigns – Children 0 – 4 years: ensuring children are properly restrained
-    Workplace Safety Management Practices – adult workforce: improving safety in the workplace
-    Tai Chi / Step Ahead programmes - Older adults 65+ years: falls prevention

Surveillance of injuries

In 2002, the CIPP commissioned a report, together with Northland Health, to assess the current injury rates in the Whangarei District, and find opportunities for promoting a culture of safety in the district. It was researched and published by the Injury Prevention Research Centre, and offers a profile of the Whangarei District community, with particular attention given to both the injury burden and opportunities for injury prevention action with the district. The CIPP is committed to having a similar report published every five years, with the next report due in 2007.

The information in the report covers:
-   baseline data to identify injury prevention related needs and issues;
-   comparison of routinely collected data; and
-   discussion of points for consideration when identifying opportunities for strategic community development action related  to  injury prevention in the district.

The CIPP also monitors injury statistics from a range of other sources, including:
-   ACC data (showing location and type of injury, age / gender / ethnicity of person injured and cost of injury claim);
-   LTNZ data (highlighting all reported vehicle crashes, how the crash occurred and who was at fault, number of people injured and degree of injuries);
-   Police reports (highlighting the number of crimes reported, any injuries sustained as a result of these crimes, and degree of seriousness of these injuries);
-   Consultation with key people and organisations in the Whangarei District with an interest in injury and injury prevention;
-   Injury data relating to attendances of Whangarei District residents at the Whangarei Hospital Emergency Department.

The population base for the Whangarei District (and all relevant injury statistics) is 71,400.
There were an average of 65 injury deaths per year between 2002 and 2004.
There were an average of 4,145 injuries per year between 2002 and 2004.

Road crashes were the leading cause of injury death for Whangarei District, accounting for 34% of injury deaths (between 2002-2004). Suicide was the second leading cause of injury deaths (28%).

ACC statistics highlight the Whangarei District as having one of the highest injury rates for the country per head of population, across all claim areas. This ACC data shows that in the year 2004, there were 2,427 new injury claims for the Whangarei District, with the district having the highest number of claims per 100,000 for home injuries.

Publications

Whangarei District Community Profile: Opportunities for Promoting a Safer Culture, Injury Prevention Research Centre in association with the CIPP and Northland Health, (2002). This report was commissioned to assess the current injury rates in the Whangarei District, and find opportunities for promoting a culture of safety in the district.

Various Northland projects have also been written up in publications nationally, including New Zealand Injury Control Bulletin, Plunket Safety Update, and Safe Waitakere Update.

Staff

• This application has been developed by an intersectoral group, the Te Tai Tokerau Community Injury Prevention Programme (CIPP) which comprises representatives of a core group from Northland District Health Board (NDHB), ACC Whangarei, Whangarei District Council, Whangarei Police, Hauora Whanui, Plunket, Land Transport New Zealand (LTNZ), Roadsafe Northland, Age Concern and Parents as First Teachers (PAFT), NZ Fire Service.  The personnel resourcing put into each project is reflective of the project focus. For example, for road safety programmes, Roadsafe Northland and LTNZ contribute more personnel, and for falls prevention, ACC provides more personnel resourcing. Work is also done by many other organisations with an interest in injury prevention, such as the New Zealand Fire Service and Sport Northland as appropriate to individual programmes.  Further contributions are made by contracted providers and in the form of in-kind contributions from community organisations.

• Within the CIPP team, there are the equivalent of 3.5 FTE staff dedicated to injury prevention in Whangarei, within the NDHB Health Promotion Team, ACC Whangarei, WDC Community Development, and Roadsafe Northland.  Both local police and the fire service dedicate a number of hours to injury prevention, in areas such as road safety and fire education. In addition, a road safety coordinator position for Whangarei and Kaipara Districts is funded by the Northland Road Safety Trust.  In addition to these positions, agencies such as Plunket and Age Concern integrate injury prevention into their work as do other teams within Health Promotion, such as the health promoting schools team. 

International Commitments

The core members of the CIPP have found numerous opportunities to share information about programmes developed in the Whangarei District.

Marion Weaver, Project Co-ordinator for the CIPP, has been secretary of the Injury Prevention Network Aotearoa New Zealand (IPNANZ) from 2002 to 2004, which means Northland has also had regular input into policy development and future planning at a national level through this and other forums. Marion was also a member of stakeholder reference group for the NZ Injury Prevention Strategy, and was on the training sub committee for IPNANZ.

Marion also attended the 7th Australian Injury Prevention - 2nd Pacific Rim Safe Communities in McKay, Queensland, in September 2004, and was the co-author of the New Zealand presentation to the Bergen Safe Community Conference in June 2005.

Other presentations at national conferences have included a presentation at the IPNANZ conference on the Plunket Well Child project, and a presentation of the Bath Toy initiative at a Safekids Conference, which detailed the CIPP’s work with the Well Child Plunket Project. An abstract from Northland has also been accepted for the upcoming IPNANZ Conference in November this year.