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The purpose of this paper is to propose a simple heuristic model that provides diagnostic capabilities and prevention insights.

The paper brings together findings from previous research including injury statistics from several industries to illustrate that the model's predicted results can be found in practice. This is a conceptual paper that applies a simple heuristic model to existing data. The model leads to an equation with four parameters: a rate of improvement reflecting prevention, a rate of deterioration reflecting obsolescence and lapsing of procedures and practices, an intrinsic limit reflecting technological capability, and a “viscosity” that adds the impact of management system malfunction to the technological limits and normal delays.

The model says that, on the average, injury rates decrease with time if the rate of rejection is greater than the rate of mortality. If “r”<“m” injury rates increase exponentially with time, and drastic results can follow. When “r”=”m” the model produces a constant rate of failure that will continue until something is done to increase “r” or decrease “m”. A constant rate of failure means that an apparent safety limit has been reached. Unless this corresponds to the technological limit, a constant rate means that some preventable failures are recurring with regularity: they risk being accepted as “hazards of the job”. Stable periods may be normal, but they can lead to complacency.

The heuristic power of the model is evident in that parameters and insights from applying it can help define prevention activities to reduce the rate of injury and, by implication, to lengthen operational periods between consecutive injuries.

The drum model can help managers understand the separate but related effects of technology and management on injury rates. The model can be used to seek prevention possibilities hidden in the aggregate data, and it can help the manager to use period data to identify areas or groups in need of help.

Building a culture of safety in transportation is not dissimilar from building a culture of safety in health. Public health is widely known for protecting the public from diseases through milk pasteurization and chlorination of drinking water, and from injuries by implementing environmental and occupational safeguards and fostering behavioral change. Lifestyle and environmental changes that have contributed to the reductions in smoking and heart disease can also help change driving, walking and cycling behaviors, and environments. Stimulating a culture of safety on the road means providing safe and accessible transportation for all. The vision for a culture of traffic safety is to change the public’s attitude about the unacceptable toll from traffic injuries and to implement a systems approach to traffic injury prevention as a means for improving public health and public safety. Framing the motor vehicle injury problem in this way provides an opportunity for partnerships between highway safety and public health to improve the culture of safety.

Injuries are influenced by individual attitudes and risk‐taking behaviours and the identification of these factors is vital for the development of effective injury prevention strategies. This paper aims to examine the injury risk behaviours and attitudes towards injury prevention among young Asians in Auckland, New Zealand and their willingness to modify behaviours and attitudes.

A total of four focus group discussions with Asian tertiary students were conducted to discuss injury‐related issues and their preventions. Analysis used statements drawn from the focus group discussions and were summarised to draw conclusions.

Injuries related to sports were the most frequently occurring, followed by domestic, workplace and traffic injuries. Cultural identity and family values were thought to have an influence on students' risk behaviours. Family convictism and positive peer pressure protects students from participating in risky sports and using recreational drugs. International students were vulnerable to risky behaviours due to isolation and were less likely to engage in health promotion and prevention activities. Family hierarchy and cultural orientations prevented some Asian students from discussing personal issues with parents and impeded gathering injury prevention skills.

Prioritisation of domestic injuries with suspected under‐reporting, marginalisation and social isolation discourages sections of Asian youths from reporting injuries or seeking help. There is a paucity of knowledge about the mental health and suicidal behaviours of Asian students, which requires further investigation. More social research is warranted to understand the injury risk behaviours of Asian youths in order to develop an effective prevention strategy.

This study demonstrates how family values generate protective attitudes against injury risk behaviours among young Asians.

Different organisations have developed policies and programmes to prevent workplace injuries and facilitate return to work. Few multiple workplace studies have examined workers’ perceptions of these policies and programmes. The purpose of this paper is to compare workers’ perception and experience of workplace policies and practices on injury prevention, people-oriented work culture, and return to work.

This study recruited 118 workers from three healthcare facilities through an online and paper survey.

Work-related musculoskeletal injury was experienced by 46 per cent of the workers, with low back injuries being most prevalent. There were significant differences in perception of policies and practices for injury prevention among occupational groups, and between workers who have had previous workplace injury experience and those without past injury.

Selection bias is possible because of voluntary participation. A larger sample could give stronger statistical power.

The perception of workplace policies can vary depending on workers’ occupational and injury status. Organisational managers need to pay attention to the diversity among workers when designing and implementing injury prevention and return to work policies.

Risks for workplace injuries are related to multiple factors, including workplace policies and practices on health and safety. Workers’ understanding and response to the policies, programmes, and practices can determine injury outcomes.

No previous study has reported on workers’ perceptions of workplace policies and practices for injury prevention and return in Manitoba healthcare sector.

Of the unintentional injuries sustained by 20‐25 year old Asians, one‐third have been attributed to road traffic crashes. This study seeks to examine stakeholders' perceptions of Asian youth injury prevention behaviours in Auckland, New Zealand.

Information was collected through face‐to‐face individual interviews, with key stakeholders who were aware of youth injury prevention and road traffic safety issues. Analysis used the statements of the discussants as the basis of describing the findings.

Risk‐taking behaviours, environment, and individual variations in attitudes influence the occurrence of injuries among Asian migrant students. Domestic injuries of students from affluent backgrounds were linked to their inexperience in domestic or kitchen work. Injuries also resulted from unprovoked race‐related street assaults by locals. Road traffic injuries may be attributed to the driving quality of some Asian youths and are influenced by traffic orientations of their country of origin. Migrant youths are often reluctant to seek medical help for their injuries due to precarious employment situations. Asian youths are reactive to minor injuries and expect robust medical procedures. Mental health and suicidal status is hard to assess due to stigma. Family pressure and limited involvement with alcohol and drugs have a protective effect against injuries.

While some Asian family values are protective against youth injury risk behaviours, negative parental attitudes may have the opposite effect. This has implications for community‐based prevention programmes. Under‐reporting of injuries and unprovoked racial attacks on Asian youths are of great concern. Further research on mental health and suicidal behaviour of Asian students and culturally appropriate injury prevention programmes are advocated.

The paper explores risk behaviours and attitudes towards prevention of injuries among young Asian students, including levels of knowledge and awareness, and their risk modifying intentions, from the viewpoint of professional stakeholders.

The aim of this literature review was to examine recent evidence of the impact of safety education for children and young people on unintentional injury rates and to update an earlier review. Evidence was sought that linked safety education for children and young people in schools, centres and other settings with changes in knowledge, skills, attitudes, and reductions in injury. The relevance of ten principles of effective safety education to the papers was considered.

A range of bibliographic databases was searched for potentially relevant papers. Titles and abstracts, and then full copies of papers were examined and retained if considered relevant.

From 495 potentially relevant papers, 12 papers were retained that met the aims of the review. The papers covered a range of topics including home safety, use of all‐terrain vehicles and pedestrian safety. While the majority of papers described the effect of an intervention on injury prevention, several described the development of an injury prevention programme. Several papers provided evidence of the impact of safety education on knowledge, behaviour, risk and skills. No papers provided evidence of the impact of safety education on injury rates.

The importance of involving children in designing successful safety education interventions is key. Working with multiple agencies and adoption of a broader community approach is likely to increase the effectiveness of safety education.

The review illustrates the value of applying the ten principles of effective safety education to designing unintentional injury prevention interventions for children and young people.

The purpose of this paper is to employ a system dynamics approach to develop a mathematical model for managing magnitude and risk factors of injuries in a manufacturing industry. This is to provide the decision makers with a systemic‐strategy to capture the transition of industries, especially manufacturing, into world‐class safe workplaces.

An accident investigation register was administered to capture needed data to estimate the model parameters and identify risk factors of injuries. The principle of system dynamics (SD) was employed to identify the relevant safety‐related components and their interrelationships. Applying the concept of causality analysis, causal loop and SD flow diagrams indicating how prevention activities may eliminate hazardous conditions were delineated and a mathematical model to predict the main variables involved in manufacturing safety programme was formulated.

The validity of the model was demonstrated using the observed data from accident investigation and register review; and a satisfactory agreement was found between the observed data and the model predictions.

The proposed model's attribute of predicting the probability of injuries or preventions is remarkable and thus, useful for managing sustainable safety control programmes.

This paper presents a manufacturing safety programme using equation‐oriented technique to predict the main variables required for managing magnitude and risk factors of injuries in a manufacturing plant.