The bfu's campaign helped to increase the number of helmet-wearers on Swiss slopes (photo ©2011 Tara S. Kerpelman)
The Swiss snow sports safety campaign, “1,000 accidents a day – protect yourself with a helmet,” has received good marks: an evaluation by the Swiss Council for Accident Prevention (bfu) says the 2007-2010 marketing campaign was an overall success.
The percentage of people wearing helmets while skiing or snowboarding went up from 52 to 76 percent between 2007 and 2010, over the course of the campaign.
The bfu partnered with the Swiss Insurance Association (SVV) and Rega (Swiss air rescue) for the campaign. It argued that the main reasons skiers and snowboarders did not wear helmets were they were not conscious of the dangers involved, they thought they were not vulnerable to the dangers, or they found that helmets were too uncomfortable to wear.
The report says the campaign reduced the number of people who fit into these categories.
The increase was smaller in French-speaking Switzerland, where it went up more than 16 percentage points, than in German-speaking areas, where the increase was greater than 26 percent, the report says.
Change in the percentage of people wearing helmets (source: bfu.ch)
There was more familiarity with the bfu’s campaign over time: only 47 percent of those surveyed in 2008 had heard of the campaign but this rose to 69 percent by 2010, with a slightly more significant increase in the 18 to 25 age group, 69 percent in 2010, up from 46 percent in 2008.
The campaign was probably not the only or even main reason for the increase in helmet-wearers, the report says, but it notes that the bfu’s efforts supported and reinforced the other reasons.
These probably include more celebrities and sports stars seen with helmets and, over time a generation, following the example of those who are older who have begun to wear helmets.
Men drown more than women
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Three persons have died in Swiss lakes in the past week, the last one a young woman hit by a speed boat in Lake Bienne Sunday, 11 July.
The police have asked for help in identifying the boat’s skipper, who did not stop.
On average 46 people die in the water every year in Switzerland. The Swiss Council for Accident Prevention (BFU) highlights the issue by pointing out that young men 15-24 years of age are most likely to die in the water.
In a study on accidental deaths (Fre) in Switzerland between 2000-2009, drownings are in second place after falls from high places.
Young men are disproportionally represented in drowning deaths given their representation in the overall population.
The BPA speculates that a cause may be young men’s inclination to take risks and to over estimate their own competencies.
Background: GenevaLunch
Helmets on all
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - “Safety and respect on the slopes” is the Swiss safety campaign slogan for the 2009-2010 winter. It is especially directed at the French-speaking parts of Switzerland in the third and final year of a major campaign to reduce winter sports accidents. The Swiss Council for Accident Prevention, known by its French initials BPA, says that only 46 percent of skiers and snowboarders wear helmets in the French-speaking part of Switzerland, against 72 percent in the Swiss-German part.
BPA started counting in 2003, and at that time only 16 percent of skiers and snowboarders in Switzerland wore head protection.
