Objective In the period from 1995 to 2008, in Croatia, 2.553 children died because of injuries, making injury prevention efforts an important societal investment. The aim of this study was to establish the attitudes of primary healthcare workers in a sample comprised of gynaecologists and paediatricians working in the primary healthcare, family physicians and community nurses.

Participants 373 primary healthcare workers (gynaecologists, paediatricians, family physicians and community nurses).

Methods Anonymous self-administered questionnaire containing items on gender, age, length and type of work and the Croatian primary healthcare workers attitudes towards injury prevention/safety promotion for preschool children.

Outcome Measures Attitudes towards injury prevention/safety promotion for pre-school children.

Results The obtained results varied greatly for different questions. For example, almost all primary healthcare workers showed correct attitudes towards prevention of drowning during bathing, prevention of playground injuries and the prevention of traffic injuries by forbidding preschool children sitting in the front seat (366 or 98.1%) and forbidding standing between the front seats during the ride (367 or 98.4%). But only 46.4% subjects recognise provocation of vomiting after a child has swallowed a potential poison as an incorrect response.

Conclusions Although a majority of primary healthcare workers demonstrated satisfactory attitudes, improvements are possible and necessary. A targeted, continuous education on the subject must be considered as one of the primary healthcare measures in the Croatian national program of healthcare measures.