It`s so easy to do stupid things.\u00a0 I know this from experience.<\/p>\n
I thought this when I read the front page of today`s National Post about the increase in accidents when people fall\u00a0from ladders,\u00a0porch railings and roofs trying to hang Christmas lights.<\/p>\n
The item reports studies documenting the increase in accidents seen by Canadian hospitals to people putting up their lights.\u00a0 Many are severe some are deadly.<\/p>\n
One hospital reported an average of four severe accidents per year at Christmas in the past decade.\u00a0 Another indicates 14 times as many check in at Christmas for less serious Christmas-light injuries.<\/p>\n
We forget when we are on a ladder that we are one to three stories above the ground.\u00a0 I forgot.<\/p>\n
I investigated the cause of a fatal step ladder accident a few years ago.\u00a0 A chap was one story up checking services above a\u00a0hung ceiling when he fell, struck his head and died.<\/p>\n
Three months later I was one story up nailing\u00a0a board in place on a storage shed on my property, leaned too far and fell.\u00a0 The fall knocked me out for long seconds.\u00a0 I was lucky though\u00a0because there were cobbles and small boulders exposed at the ground surface and my head missed every one.<\/p>\n
Decoration-installing falls are only a sub-set of a much larger, generally\u00a0overlooked problem.<\/p>\n
The National Post reports that falls in general have overtaken motor-vehicle accidents as the major cause of serious injury in Canada.<\/p>\n
It`s no different in the U.S. where more than one million people suffer from a slip, trip or fall each year.\u00a0 In 2005, 17,700 died as a result of falls (U. S. National Safety Council, 2007).\u00a0 In public places, falls are far and away the leading cause of injury.<\/p>\n
I`ve read\u00a0some of the engineering literature\u00a0on the\u00a0investigation of\u00a0slip, trip and fall accidents, and the slip and fall legal practice handbooks.\u00a0 Many falls are preventable.\u00a0 This is far cheaper than pressing or defending a claim for damages.<\/p>\n
Last evening I went for a swim in a rec centre.\u00a0 As per my routine, I bake a little in the sauna\u00a0before and after my swim – also soak in the hot tub.\u00a0 The sauna floor has a very good skid resistant mat.\u00a0 The pool deck is also highly skid resistance.\u00a0 The shower room floor just outside the sauna and the dressing room floor beyond are as slippery as any I’ve seen.\u00a0 A\u00a0preventable slip and fall accident waiting\u00a0to happen.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It`s so easy to do stupid things.\u00a0 I know this from experience. I thought this when I read the front page of today`s National Post about the increase in accidents when people fall\u00a0from ladders,\u00a0porch railings and roofs trying to hang … Continue reading