Safe and Secure

Illinois state police have introduced “CHAD” or “Children Have An Identity” stickers which fit on a child safety seat or under a bicycle seat after a 13-month old boy named Chad was involved in an auto accident with his babysitter. The babysitter was killed in the crash and the boy could not be quickly identified. His injuries were untreated for an hour until a family friend happened to walk by his hospital gurney.

The stickers give basic identification and emergency contact information and can also give important information such as allergies to medications.

The Southern Illinoisan

Illinois State Trooper J. D. Murphy said an identification tool promoted by state police is a CHAD - Children Have An Identity - sticker. The stickers are meant to put on the back of a child safety seat, but also fit underneath a bicycle seat and are appropriate for adults as well.

“Unfortunately, we get a lot of our innovative ideas when something bad happens,” Murphy said.

The CHAD stickers were introduced after a boy named Chad was involved in a vehicle accident with a babysitter and could not be immediately identified.

More information on identification and emergency contact programs at this site.

The Council of State and Territorial
Epidemiologists (CSTE) reports some facts worth considering in Are You Safe at Work? More than Six Million US Workers Suffer From Workplace Illnesses and Injuries:

• 5,703 work-related fatalities were recorded in the United States in 2004
• There were 4.4 million nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses reported during 2003 in the private sector alone. (That doesn’t include injuries to police, firefighters and other high risk government jobs.)
• 137 workers die from work-related diseases every day.

“The good news however, is that work-related injuries and illnesses are
preventable.” Check the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health for lots of information on workplace safety.