Programme year started: The programme was started in 1991, and has been organized as the project "Saman om Tryggleik" (Hand in hand for Safety) since 1998.

International Safe Communities Network Membership: Designation year : 2002

Info address on www for the Programme: www.sf-f.kommune.no At this address, you will find a link to "Trygge lokalsamfunn (Safe Local Communities)" in the county of Sogn and Fjordane and here you will find Høyanger.

For the age groups
Children 0-14 years:

Photo:Bycycle check

Youth 15-24 years: Yes
Adults 25-64 years: Yes
Elderly 65+ years: Yes

Home:
Health centres distribute brochures, talk to parents about preventive safety work at home and have information boards featuring child safety equipment. Child safety is a topic discussed at parent/teacher meetings at nursery schools/childcare centres. Pupils are trained in fire safety at school. Example: Children are given a check list to find out what fire safety measures they have at home. General information about fire safety is shown as cinema commercials. "Saman om Tryggleik" has been featured regularly in local newspapers, with season-related safety tips.

The reporting of non-conformities has been introduced in the municipality's health and social service department. The system documents and systemizes incidents and near-misses regarding employees and users, this information providing the basis on which preventive actions are set in motion at institutions and with the elderly who live at home. Feedback is given to all departments monthly. The system helps employees to be consciously aware of safety in their daily work.

Traffic:
Car safety equipment for infants (one year or less) and reflector discs for 4 year olds can be leased from the health centre. Child safety in cars is a topic at parent/teacher meetings at nursery schools. Together with the local police-force, schools teach first grade pupils how to behave in traffic (highway code) as pedestrians and in the 4^th grade, on bicycles. The pupils' bicycles are also checked over by the police. Free reflector weskits for all first grade pupils. Free cycle helmets and cycle reflectors for 4^th grade pupils in connection with the "Cycle Certificate". Together with the police and the office for roads and transport, demonstrations of the use of reflectors are carried out during the autumn/fall. All school children are given a reflector disc.

A traffic safety plan, including physical traffic safety and actions and creative behavioural work, has been prepared for the municipality. A health, environment and safety committee (HES) for the outdoor environment was established in 2001. The committee is the recipient of messages, gathers on-site information and proposes improvements to make traffic and the outdoor environment safer.

Occupational:
"Saman om Tryggleik" is a joint project between the aluminium plant Hydro Aluminium Høyanger and the Høyanger municipality. The project manager has learnt and observed how Hydro Aluminium Høyanger works actively with safety. Sharing their experiences about how to prevent accidents has been very useful, even though work in the municipality is in many ways very different.

A non-conformity reporting system has been prepared for internal use in the health and social service department in the municipality, based on the same system used by Hydro. All near-misses, accidents and injuries to employees on duty are registered. A graphic presentation of the documentation is forwarded to all departments. The system is used actively in order to improve the physical working environment. Hydro arranges a safety day every year, and displays lots of protective equipment. This event is open for all, which means that other smaller companies in the municipality can gather new ideas and knowledge about safety from such an event.

Occupational health services and safety officers work together to improve employee safety in the municipality. Hydro has participated with a stand and information about safety work at municipal safety conferences.

Schools:
Schools focus on pupil safety through regular safety rounds together with the safety officer and occupational health services. One school even escorts 1^st to 4^th grade pupils to and from the school bus. Another rule at this school is that no pupils are allowed to cycle to school before spring of the 4^th grade, and only after they have passed a cycle test. All pupils must wear a cycle helmet when cycling to school.

All teachers must attend a first aid course. Before school starts, all playground equipment is checked, and routines for notifying safety risks are reviewed. These items are followed up during safety rounds. Fire drill twice per year.

Sports:
The municipality has common regulations for the leasing of sports centres in order to define responsibility more clearly. Ski helmets are mandatory for all under the age of 15 at ski centres. Everyone who works on the ski lifts/tows must wear a helmet. Those who do not have such a helmet can borrow one. An information and safety brochure for the ski centres has been published. Common trainer/leader training for sports coaches is currently being planned. Safety is on the agenda when coaches and managers meet with the municipality's Sports Council.

The handball group has focused in particular on the safe transport of kids to tournaments and were awarded in 2000 a local safety prize from an insurance company for their work.

Leisure:
Annual meetings have been carried out with residents' associations, neighbourhood associations and other voluntary organizations, the main topic being information and an orientation about safety in playgrounds and the local environment. The municipality has established a local environment prize, where safety and well-being in the local environment have been focused on. Safety in play areas in residential areas in the municipality has been mapped. This mapping is the basis for the allocation of municipal funds to the residents' associations on application. The municipality has a permanent contact person who works together with these associations.

"Saman om tryggleik" has mapped the use of different types of protective equipment, such as cycle helmets and life jackets, among children, teenagers, parents and teachers. The findings have been reported back to schools and parent associations as background material for working further on this topic.

By working together with the environment manager and work on LA21, several tour paths have been prepared and adjusted for safer access to woods and mountains. Two new tour maps have been prepared for the municipality, one showing tour routes and paths that were used in olden days.

Several local play areas have been built in residential areas. A skateboard arrangement has been built close to the main sports centre, so that children and teenagers can have a safe place to use their skateboards and roller-blades.

Company sports teams in the municipality and Hydro have together carried out a campaign about the use of cycle helmets and employees can buy helmets at a reduced price. Hydro gave all their employees a cycle helmet as a summer gift.

Other:
The municipality has established a child safety prize of NOK 10,000. The prize can be awarded to individuals, schools, nursery schools or other organizations. It is awarded for the best proposals that will prevent accidents occurring to children at home and in local environments.

Idea brainstorming has been carried out internally in the municipality to involve everyone in safety work. Results from such brainstorming sessions are prioritized and implemented in daily operations and/or planning.

The project manager takes part in meetings with different groups and organizations to inform them and motivate them in safety work and to encourage them to make greater efforts in this area.

Suicide prevention:
School health services have carried out the educational programme "Meistring og avspenning" (Mastery and Relaxation) for classes in the upper secondary schools. The purpose of this programme has been to enlighten pupils about "ordinary crises in everyday life", to go through "normal" reactions to such, and focus on the resources we all have to master them. The pupils have also been taught some relaxation methods to music. The school health services have started a separate programme about this, together with the administration and pupil council in the upper secondary schools and educational/psychological services (PP). The objective of this programme is to develop such services further and make them a permanent arrangement, in addition to making info material easily available for pupils, together with their help.

Programmes aiming at "High risk-groups":
Research results indicate that the health of pupils who do not live at home during their school years is poorer and more at risk than those pupils who live at home. Through the project "Ung på hybel" (Living in a bed-sit), the Høyanger municipality has tried to increase the well-being and safety of those pupils who have to live in bed-sits. Breakfast groups have been formed and more supervision of the buildings housing bed-sits is carried out by environmental workers so that pupils can feel safer and have more adult contact. The pupils' assessment of this project is positive.

Surveillance of injuries:
The local surgery registers all injuries in the municipality that require medical attention. Work-related injuries among municipal employees are registered through occupational health services and the non-conformity register in the health and social service department.. Hydro registers injuries on the plant site continuously. Based on the fact that most work injuries are caused by behaviour, Hydro has started a new project called "Atferdsbasert sikkerhetsarbeid" (Behavioural Accident Prevention Process).

• Numbers per year:

I 2000, 149 injuries requiring medical attention were registered in Høyanger.

Population base: ca. 2 500

Produced information material, pamphlets:
Brochure about the ski centres, with tips about safety and the regulations. Leaflet to all inhabitants about the HMT-committee (health, environment and safety) for the outdoor environment. Registration form for the registration of non-conformities in the health and social service sector. Statistics of all injuries requiring medical attention. Mapping brochure about traffic safety and the use of protective equipment by children and adults in the municipality.

Staff:

Professions:
Project manager - 50 % Temporary: June 1998 – December 2001. From January 2002 20%.

Organization:
The project manager is officially employed by the municipality, directly below the chief officer.

Specific intersectoral leadership group:
Steering group with the chief officer and youth and sports consultant from the municipality and the plant manager and safety officer from Hydro. From 2001, the local police will also participate.

General public health/health promotion group:
The work group consists of engineers from the engineering section, educational consultant from the adolescent sector, ergonomists from the health sector, environment protection officer, in addition to the chief safety commissioner from the municipality. The political representative is the local council's deputy chairman, and from Hydro, the information/training manager. The project manager acts as the group's secretariat.

International commitments:
The municipality participated in the Nordic Safe Community Conference in Iceland in 1999, with a stand/posters, and in the 4. Safe Community Conference at Vejle in Denmark in 2001, here too with a stand/posters and a speech at the Work shop.

Study visits: Årdal municipality, Norway

Participation in Safe Community conferences:

The municipality has participated in national conferences held at Årdal in 1995, Drammen in 1999, Harstad and Oslo, Public Health in 2000. We sent four delegates to the 4. Safe Community Conference in Vejle in August 2001. The project manager talked about "Using Non-conformity Registration as a Method for Preventing Accidents in Homes for the Elderly and Home Services" (Bruk av avviksregistrering som metode for å forebygge ulykker hos eldre i institusjon og hjemmetjeneste) at the Worskshop "From Registration to Prevention".

Hosting Safe Community Conferences:

Høyanger has hosted a network conference for the county of Sogn and Fjordane in 1999. Host for a county network session during the autumn of 2001.

Other: The Høyanger municipality arranged a municipal safety conference in 1999 and in 2000, with about 60 delegates from all parts of the municipality and voluntary organizations on both occasions.