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25
Home safety
The Home Safety Act, 1961 S.l (1) states that "A local authority
may promote safety in the home by publishing or making arrangements
for otherwise giving information or advice relating to the prevention of
accidents in the home" and S.l. (2) states that "a local authority may
make contributions to any organisation whose activities are carried on
otherwise than for profit and consist of or include the promotion of
safety in the home."
Before and after the passing of the Act, the Health department
had arranged or carried out certain propaganda or educational efforts
in connection with home safety. For example, home safety films have
been shown to old people's clubs; various posters, leaflets and
pamphlets have been displayed or made available to the public; the
council subscribes to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents,
home safety section; health department leaflets have been printed and
displayed; various suggestions have been made for home safety in
the provision of housing; statistics on accidents in the home are collected
or sought from hospitals. Furthermore a quarterly bulletin is issued to
local clubs, organisations, doctors and dentists, so that it can be available
to club members, those attending surgeries, and so on. Some 2,500
copies of each issue are distributed.
In October the Council agreed that the activities of the Local
Safety Organisation be extended to include publicity measures to be
undertaken to reduce the incidence of accidents in the home; that the
Lewisham Old People's Welfare Association and such other bodies
are, considered appropriate be included in the list of bodies entitled to
nominate a representative to the Local Safety Organisation.
As remarked upon in previous annual reports it has been found
impracticable to gather the necessary statistics regarding home accidents,
but some of a limited nature, based on County Council ambulance
removals for 1963, are as follows:

It will be seen that there are no separate figures for Lewisham, but based on the
first four lines the approximate numbers for Lewisham, (below the horizontal line
In the table) would be about one-sixteenth of those shown. It must be emphasised
that these are only accidents sufficiently serious to require removal to hospital by
ambulance.