Dysphagia in people with lifelong disabilities places a substantial burden on people with lifelong developmental disabilities, their carers, health and disability service, and society as a whole. Dysphagia in this population can be associated with respiratory illness, impaired nutrition, increased support needs, emergency hospital admissions with increased length of stay, readmission, and premature death. Research into better ways to prevent premature death in this population, including by choking, is an international priority. There is a wealth of information, guidance, resources, and training available on dysphagia management; fact sheets on modified foods, fluids, equipment, and tube feeds; yet to date this has been based upon "expert opinion," and there have been no studies investigating the impact of training on changing direct support workers' behaviours with regard to safety at mealtimes. Similarly, to date there are no reports of research naming dysphagia as a safety issue for residents with developmental disabilities in community settings. Therefore, there is little information available on the range of relevant factors contributing to dysphagia-related safety incidents. Such information is needed to inform policy, practice, and training to enhance the protection of adults with lifelong disabilities and dysphagia from preventable dysphagia-related respiratory illness or death, and to inform development of "resident safety frameworks" that reflect the "patient safety frameworks" pertaining to health care practices. This article calls for further research to properly understand the full range of factors influencing mealtime safety in people with lifelong disabilities and dysphagia. Improved documentation, practice systems, and services taking account of these factors could help paid and unpaid service providers as well as health services increase protection and reduce risk for people with dysphagia living in the community.