Injuries sustained during snow removal from roofs resulting in hospital care

Abstract

Clearing snow from roofs causes serious injuries annually. The aim of this study was to describe injury mechanisms, injury panorama, and injury incidence in connection to this activity. A specific aim was to study the association between snow depth and injury incidence. A total of 95 people were injured during four study periods. The risk of injury is strongly associated with snow depth, and the incidence varied up to 10-fold between the studied winter seasons. The majority of injuries (91; 96%) occurred during leisure time and only four people were injured in the occupational setting. The most common injury mechanism was falling off roofs or ladders of residential homes. Nearly 60% sustained moderate or serious injuries (Maximum Abbreviated Injury Scale [MAIS] 2–3), and fractures accounted for almost half of all injuries. Because roofs of single-family homes in Sweden usually do not require snow removal for heavy snow loads, these injuries may have been both unnecessary and avoidable. Further education is required to advise the public on the risks associated with snow removal from roofs.

Keywords:

• injuries
• snow
• shovelling
• rooftop
• accidental falls

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank public health strategist Kaj Sundström for providing the injury data from the County Council of Värmland. We also thank Michael Haney, Ulf Björnstig, and Helge Brändström for valuable comments on the manuscript and Hans Stenlund for statistical support.