Higher injury rates among children is a significant post-COVID-19 phenomenon. This paper focuses on injury frequency in pre-school, as well as in younger school-age children, and maps the approaches used by families to prevent injuries and ensure child safety in the Czech Republic. The aim of the survey was to determine what types of serious injuries prevail among children, how parents or grandparents evaluate the awareness of children toward dangerous situations, and what opinions and preferences they have regarding educating their children about health and safety. The questionnaire survey among parents and grandparents (N = 278) of children from birth to the age of 12 was conducted at educational events for the wider public in 2017–2019. The survey showed that head injuries (27%) are prevalent among pre-school children; however, in children older than 5 years, injuries are due to increased outdoor activity and tend to be more associated with sports and leisure activities (fractures 31%, burns 23%). Most respondents considered their children to be more likely to recognize life-threatening risks, which is worrying in the context of the rising number of injuries in the Czech Republic in recent years.

The article presents a study focused on the teaching staff and the impact of their occupational health and safety (OHS) teaching on pupils in pre-primary and primary education. A questionnaire survey was conducted among 227 teachers from eleven pre-primary and primary schools in Prague, Czech Republic in 2021. Pre-primary teachers rated themselves as more competent in OHS than teachers of primary education, although pre-primary children had a higher rate of injuries. More frequent OHS training did not affect teachers’ self-assessment but reduced child injury rates, especially if such training was completed more than once a year.

The aim of this paper is to present the opinions of teachers on the standards for admitting toddlers to kindergartens in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, and to discuss these standards in relation to the risks to children’s well-being. Opinions were obtained through a quantitative survey among teachers from the Czech Republic (n=574) and Slovakia (n=593) in 2023. Results showed that most teachers do not support the admission of children under three to kindergartens. They conditionally support admission based on self-care skills, hygiene habits, and socio-emotional independence, which do not match typical toddler development, posing pressure on the child and family.