Abstract

Childhood injuries are a global health problem; every year, over half a million children die from unintentional injuries, the number one killer of children worldwide. The vast majority of these injuries are preventable through safer behaviors. Focusing on preparedness and prevention through education can help mitigate loss and suffering.

UL and the Walt Disney Company partnered to create Wild About Safety and Safety Smart® to share lessons of safety, health and environment, in an edu-taining way for children around the world. By combining the technical expertise of hazard-based engineering with loveable characters, UL and Disney created the Safety Smart curriculum as a global educational resource. The program is tailored to local contexts and is available in 34 languages in 26 countries.

To assess the impact of the Safety Smart program, an international study was undertaken involving 955 children (n=955) in five countries. A pre- and post- test study was conducted to test both knowledge gain and behavioral change regarding safety. Specifically, the study focused on children’s health and environmental consciousness change through exposure to two Wild About Safety Videos: ‘Healthy and Fit’ and ‘Goes Green’. Two groups were created; a control group who were not exposed to videos and an experimental group that were exposed to the videos. Results showed that the Safety Smart program positively affected children’s knowledge and behavior in as little as one week. Children who had watched the Healthy and Fit! video were significantly more likely to choose an apple over a cookie as a snack versus children who did not watch the video (p<0.001) and children who watched the Goes Green! video were significantly more likely to recycle a scrap of paper versus children who did not watch the video (p<0.001).

Safety Smart instills safe, healthy and sustainable behaviors one child at a time.