Injury hazard assessment in school environment in Karachi, Pakistan

Introduction

About 7% of all childhood injuries in low-income countries occur in schools; however little is known about the injury hazards in school environment. The objective was to develop and pilot a school hazard assessment tool in Karachi, Pakistan.

Methods

The study was conducted from March–June 2013 and included public and private schools in Karachi. The schools were divided into three categories based on the age of the child; kindergarten (<5 years), primary (5–10 years) and secondary (11–17 years). These hazard observations in school environment were done by trained data collectors.

Results

Of the 167 schools approached, hazard assessment was done in 107 (64.07%) schools. About a quarter (26%) of classrooms had broken furniture and 19.8% had nails in furniture. In 50.9% of schools, playground surface was of concrete. About 22.7% of children from kindergarten, 27.1% from primary and 31.2% from secondary school were not supervised during recess. About 28.3% schools had low-height of corridor walls, while 60.4% schools had open wires in electrical switches. In 14.2% of schools there were cleaning chemicals in toilets within the reach of children. There were stray dogs within schools (22.4%) and in 40.4% schools students bunk classes and go outside during school timings.

Conclusion

This was the first time that injury school environment risks tool was developed and piloted in the context of Pakistan. There was a significant burden of hazards present in the school environment representing an important opportunity for injury prevention.