Deaths and injuries caused by slipping, tripping and falling

Abstract

‘Underfoot accidents’ is suggested as a description of slipping, tripping, falling and other events causing injuries on floors, stairs, roofs and scaffolding, etc. Some statistics are available for falls but there is no information about the numbers of other underfoot accidents. In 1979 there were 5886 fatal falls in England, Wales and Scotland. Statistics published by the Health and Safety Executive and the Home Accident Surveillance System indicate that there are at least half a million injuries from falls requiring hospital treatment or causing absence from work of at least 3 days. The United States Health Service recorded 13·6 million falls in 1972. National statistics on underfoot accidents would be valuable for accident prevention and could be obtained by investigating the causes of all accidental injuries attending hospital accident and emergency departments.