Domestic falls costly, preventable

Hawke's Bay has the dubious honour of having the second highest rate of home falls in New Zealand last year.

Figures released by ACC, at the start of Home Safety Action Week 2012, show 5304 residents were injured in a fall at home.

This amounted to 69 claims for every 1000 people aged 25 to 64.

ACC's general manager, Insurance and Prevention Services, John Beaglehole, said one small trip or slip could have big consequences. "It's not just older and younger people who fall at home," he said. "Last year, over 40 per cent of all home falls happened to people aged 25-64 years.

"An injury can completely change your life for a while. It can stop you from doing the things you enjoy, like catching up with friends or playing with your children. People often need to take time off work too, affecting their income.

"ACC figures show 10,000 people are off work for a week or more because of a fall at home."

In the Hastings district, 2595 people aged 25 to 64 years made a claim to ACC related to a fall in or around the home. Napier had fewer falls, with 2115, while Central Hawke's Bay District had 405 and Wairoa 189.

Injuries in and around the home were the biggest cause of ACC claims, accounting for over 40 per cent of all new claims received in 2011.

Nationally, over 280,000 home injuries happened because of falls. Northland had the highest number of claims at 75 per 1000, and Marlborough the lowest at 33 per 1000.

Tony Smith, medical director for St John, said most home injuries were preventable. "It is not only sad but it is frustrating," Dr Smith said. "We also often see a mind set change between work and home with many people having a safety first approach at work, but not having this approach at home.

"We often attend to people who have tripped over electric heater cords or their dressing gown cords. Another group of people that we see often are those who have fallen off ladders and slipped over on garden paths.

"A fall can really ruin your plans and we want people to think about how they can avoid becoming an ACC statistic. We all need to focus on what we can do to remove hazards in the home and how we can be more safety conscious."

ACC said the cost of home-related injuries in 2011 was $520 million and more than 2500 people were off work for more than three months as a result of home falls last year.