Background The Finnish safety culture in working life and in traffic has im­proved as well as the safety of children. A good safety culture needs to be extended to all environments and prevention belongs for everyone. The multi-sectoral coordination group in Finland has drawn up a National Target and Action Programme for the Prevention of Home and Leisure Accident Injuries 2014–2020.

Description of the problem Young and middle-aged men are over-represented in the statistics on home and leisure accident injuries. The growing number of elderly people and independent living pose challenges the safety culture. The high levels of alcohol consumption and binge drinking increase the accident risk.

Results Municipalities, Nation­al Institute for Health and Welfare, Finnish National Rescue Asso­ciation, social and health care service providers and housing companies have increased safety assessments as a part of the structures, planning, man­agement systems, decision-making and activities of organisations like schools, day-care centres and hospitals. Ministry of Social Affairs and Health (MSAH), Finnish Insti­tute of Occupational Health and Centre for Occupational Safety have included the home and leisure accident prevention as a permanent part of safety work at workplaces. MSAH, Ministry of the Interior, Ministry of Transport and Communications and non-governmental organisations continue the efforts to intensify cooperation across the accident prevention sector. Finnish Defense Forces, Finnish Road Safety Council, sports clubs and leisure time organisations are engaged in the work to prevent accidents in various environments and activities into account in the preventive efforts.

Conclusion Number of injury deaths in Finland show decreasing trends. The prevention activity has to be permanent and long lasting and targeted well for all age group and different environments. Non-governmental organisations are important in implementing actions in the practice.