Personal Safety: Four Basic Strategies To Reduce Risk

Every day we are all exposed to a certain degree of risk. For instance, the National Safety Council offers the following statistics:

*In the US, household accidents account for approximately 180,000 injuries every year. Generally, these types of accidents involve consumer products. The estimated costs of these consumer product accidents were about $3.3 billion in 2007. This is why most of us will put away the ladder when we have finished using it, or do not leave paint thinner in a location our children can easily access it.


*There are approximately 42,000-43,000 road deaths per year in the United States. Because we know this to be true, and recognize the inherent risk in driving, most of us buckle up our seat belt as is often mandated by state laws. Most rationale people do not drink and drive. Why? We know drugs, alcohol and driving do not mix well.

*There were approximately 3,582 accidental drowning incidents in 2005. Who, among parents, is going to leave their youngster unsupervised near a pool?

*There were approximately 20,000 deaths due to accidental falls in 2005. Therefore, most of us use solid ladders to paint the house, clean gutters or reach for something on the top shelf.

*There were 18,124 deaths due to assault in 2005. What do most people do about this risk? Many people just hope for the best, or wander around in denial of the personal violence that exists in the world around them.

In any routine situation, just going about your daily life, you are exposed to a certain degree of risk in regard to violence. Stories abound in which people are victimized in the mall parking lot, walking to the car from a restaurant, going to pick up groceries or traveling in a foreign county.

The media often sensationalizes these stories, and just as often, they are forgotten by the public when the next news cycle comes around.

There are some relatively simple principles that anyone can employ in order to reduce the risk of personal violence.

1. Try not to be alone. When two people are present in any situation the risk of violence is reduced by over 80%. Three people present reduce the risk of violence up to 95%. Think about that for a moment. By having another person with you the risk of violence is greatly reduced, and having a third person along almost eliminates the risk of violence completely.

2. Do not let strangers get within two arms-length distance of you. Presumably, for a criminal to successfully accomplish their crime, they need to get close enough to a victim to control them. At this distance, an assailant cannot punch, kick, grab or stab you. If a potential assailant is looking to do you harm, but cannot touch you – they will likely move on to find another victim.

3. Do not engage in conversation with people you do not know. Criminals use little “con games” to get close to victims.

4. Be direct. Many of us are socialized to be courteous and kind to everyone, including strangers. However, we know from significant research that criminals use conversation in an attempt to disengage the victim’s guarded perceptions. You are far better off by taking the chance of being rude or embarrassing yourself. You can always apologize later.

Take a moment to plan for this as you go about your daily activities or when traveling.

© 2008 Terry Hipp

By: hipper

Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com

Terry Hipp is a career veteran of the Criminal Justice System. He serves as the CEO and Sr. Director of Training and Education at Assault Prevention LLC. For more than 25 years, Assault Prevention has helped individuals, groups, and organizations proactively plan for successful mitigation of unexpected violence and emergencies-and as a result, bring about a sense of control to their daily lives. He may be contacted at: AssaultPrevention.ORG

Please Rate this Article

5 out of 54 out of 53 out of 52 out of 51 out of 5 

# of Ratings = 1 | Rating = 5/5