IV 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 543 

Expressing support for designation of June as ‘‘Home Safety Month’’. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 12, 2009 

Mrs. HALVORSON (for herself, Mr. DINGELL, Mr. MASSA, Mr. HILL, Ms. 

MATSUI, Mr. HALL of Texas, Mr. HINCHEY, Mrs. MALONEY, Mr. 

MCGOVERN, Ms. BEAN, Mr. CONNOLLY of Virginia, Mr. ISRAEL, Mr. 

MEEKS of New York, Mr. TEAGUE, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, 

and Mr. WOLF) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 

the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing support for designation of June as ‘‘Home Safety 

Month’’. 

Whereas unintentional injuries in the home result in nearly 

20,000 deaths and 21,000,000 medical visits on average 

each year; 

Whereas the top 5 causes of unintentional home injury 

deaths are falls, poisoning, fires/burns, choking/suffocation, and drowning/submersion; 

Whereas falls are the leading cause of home injury death 

among older adults in the United States, and the total 

direct costs associated with both fatal and non-fatal falls 

is more than $19,000,000,000 annually for hospitalization, emergency department visits, and outpatient care; 


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•HRES 543 IH 

Whereas poisonings are the second leading cause of home injury death in the United States, resulting in nearly 5,000 

deaths per year; 

Whereas fire and burn injuries are the third leading cause of 

home injury death and almost two-thirds (65 percent) of 

reported home fire deaths resulted from fires in homes 

with no smoke alarms or no working smoke alarms; 

Whereas deaths due to unintentional choking and suffocation 

injuries are the fourth leading cause of home injury 

death in the United States and nearly 25 percent of all 

choking and suffocation deaths occur in the home; 

Whereas deaths due to drowning are the fifth leading cause 

of home injury death in the United States and an average of more than 10,000 events occur in the home each 

year that require medical care, emergency department 

treatment, and result in days away from work or school; 

Whereas children and older adults have increased rates of unintentional home injury, compared with all other age 

groups; 

Whereas citizens are encouraged to take a hands-on approach 

to home safety and become aware of the simple and inexpensive steps they can take to reduce the risk of injury 

in each area of the home; and 

Whereas June would be an appropriate month to designate 

as ‘‘Home Safety Month’’: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) supports the designation of ‘‘Home Safety 

3 Month’’; 

4 (2) recognizes the contributions of home safety 

5 related nonprofit organizations for their ongoing 


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1 commitment to ensuring families remain safe in 

2 their homes; 

3 (3) recognizes the contributions made by the 

4 Home Safety Council to the efforts of ‘‘Home Safety 

5 Month’’ for recently introducing a new and innova6 tive online tool to help adults identify the dangers 

7 present in and around the home, designated as 

8 www.MySafeHome.org, and for promoting the 

9 Hands on Home Safety Campaign, whose goal is to 

10 educate and empower both families and businesses 

11 to take simple actions that will make homes safe and 

12 minimize their risk for potential injuries, or even 

13 death; 

14 (4) encourages adults, parents, and caregivers 

15 to take greater actions to reduce unintentional inju16 ries and educate themselves on the importance of 

17 home safety, for themselves and their loved ones; 

18 (5) encourages manufacturers to develop inno19 vative safety products and features to help lessen the 

20 number of home injuries and accidents; and 

21 (6) encourages local and national government 

22 leaders to support funding for critical home safety 

23 education programs to reduce the risks from home 

24 injuries. 

Æ 


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