WAITING TO HAPPEN

Lorne Tepperman is a professor of sociology at the University of Toronto and the author of many books on sociological thought. He is a former Chair of the Sociology Department and former Director of the Health Studies Program at the University of Toronto.
Nicole Meredith is an English M.A. candidate at the University of Toronto, and a freelance author and editor. She graduated from Canadas National Ballet School in 2009, with a peaked interest and personal investment in injury prevention.

The havoc that unexpected injuries commonly known as accidents wreak on human life has long been studied by public health experts. More recently, sociologists have turned their attention to these same events to ask new questions about the social causes and consequences of unexpected injuries. Lorne Tepperman and Nicole Meredith evaluate the research on unexpected injury rates across the world, with a particular focus on Canada, before delving in more detail into
how these injuries are patterned, and how we may use our knowledge of that patterning to improve public health and safety. Opening chapters are organized around hot spots, or the specific contexts in which accidents most often take place: in the home, at work, on the road, and during leisure
activities. The following chapters consider which populations are at an especially high risk of injury (and why), and which populations enjoy protection against injuries. While they contend that practical changes can indeed be made to improve public safety including better research, communication, and policy implementation these changes hinge on a change in perspective: a shift from the acceptance of the inevitability of accidents, to a recognition that these unexpected events are truly
predictable and preventable.