Haddon Matrix is a table that helps grown-ups think about how to make things safer in case an accident or disaster happens. Imagine you’re playing with your toys, but accidentally knock over a vase that breaks on the floor. The Haddon Matrix is like a grown-up’s toy that helps them look at different ways they can help stop things from breaking and hurting people if there is an accident or disaster.
There are three parts to the Haddon Matrix: before, during, and after the disaster. The table has two rows and three columns. There are two sides of the row, and they're called “Human factors” and “environmental factors.”
The before part of the Haddon Matrix looks at how to make things safer before an accident or disaster happens. This is where grown-ups think about things like wearing helmets when riding bikes, making sure the roads are safe, or having smoke detectors in a house.
The during part of the Haddon Matrix looks at how to keep people safe during an accident or disaster. This is where grown-ups think about things like putting up barriers to keep people safe from a car that is going too fast or teaching kids what to do during a fire.
The after part of the Haddon Matrix looks at how to make things safer after an accident or disaster happens. This is where grown-ups think about how to help people recover from an accident or disaster. This could mean things like fixing buildings, helping people pay for medical bills, or helping people deal with the trauma of a bad experience.
Overall, the Haddon Matrix helps grown-ups make things safer in case an accident or disaster happens, by looking at how to prevent it from happening in the first place, how to keep people safe if it does happen, and how to help people recover if it does.