Home injuries: Where the high-risk zones are and how to avoid getting hurt

Nearly a quarter of a million Aussies were hospitalised from falls in a single year. Here’s where the most dangerous areas are.

Minimising the chances of falling will go a long way to preventing injury. Picture: iStock

When we fell over as kids, there was a splash of Dettol, a Bandaid, a kiss and the fall was soon forgotten.

But as adults, especially seniors, falling is a major event that costs both those who fall and the health resources needed to repair the damage.

According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, across 2020-21 there were 243,000 hospitalisations resulting from falls – and in the year prior, 5,300 fatalities.

Of the many things we must pay attention to in our lives, stopping falls should be right up there.

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Besides making sure the staircase is as good as it can be, what else can we do?

The staircase isn’t the only dangerous location in the home. Picture: iStock

Well, make sure you can see. It sounds obvious, but our eyesight shifts as we age.

Have regular check-ups and keep prescriptions up to date.

Keeping areas well lit is also useful. Yes, electricity is expensive, but so is going base over apex and having to put the dog in a kennel for a month while you get a new hip.

Put the lights on, it’s an easy preventive measure – and with motion and remote-controlled lights available now — there really is no excuse for taking a risky, late night trip to the loo in the dark.

Oh, and don’t leave it to the last minute either – rushing, especially from a prone position in bed, is a head rush waiting to happen that may land you in the orthopaedic ward.

Slipping or tripping-up (even while on the same level) is a major issue – to the tune of causing 31 per cent of fall hospitalisations.

Often these are caused by bumping into furniture; everyone should have a long look at their traffic patterns in the house and move furniture out of the road – and that includes one serial offender: rugs.

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Many people enjoy wandering about the home in socks. Cosy? Yes. Slippery? You bet. Socks with non-slip grip or shoe-styled slippers, are a much safer bet – and the new designs are fun.

And for the under 65s, it’s dangerously easy to imagine you are bulletproof.

The bathroom is another injury hot spot, especially if you don’t turn the lights on. Picture: iStock

But falling from a ladder is well represented as a frequent (and sometimes very serious) accident.

For those even younger, anything with wheels is problematic. But without doubt, being older is the greatest risk factor. Professor Michael Nicholl believes we may never know the true number of incidents.

“I think people are often embarrassed by the fact they’ve had a fall, and they will often not report it to relatives, or their social circle, for fear they will be looked on as being old,” he says. “We need to break the stigma.”

Elderly Aussies often feel embarrassed by the fact they’ve had a fall.

Professor Nicholl is now the NSW Health Department’s Clinical Excellence Commission chief executive, following a distinguished medical career spanning 40 years.

“In NSW alone, falls account for 27,000 hospitalisations and contribute to or are responsible for approximately 400 deaths,” he says. “That’s more than road trauma.”

And while the majority of falls are experienced by people over 65 years of age, younger people can – and do – fall as well.

“Yes, everybody is at risk of falling, especially if they have had a recent illness, if their nutrition has not been good, if they’re on medications, even if they are in a new environment,” Prof Nicholl says.

A change in the floor level is one common cause of falls, he adds.

“The biggest risk of falls is when we are transitioning from one level to another, or within a level, the floor is uneven,” Prof Nicholl says.

Transitioning from one level to another can be an unexpected cause of hospitalisations. Picture: iStock

Staircases represent 7 per cent of fall hospitalisations and are worth inspecting regularly.

“I think we haven’t paid enough attention to their location, the step and the rise of those stairs, the lighting associated with the stairs, the covering – all of those aspects need to be optimised to reduce the risk of falling,” he says.

Originally published as Home injuries: Where the high-risk zones are and how to avoid getting hurt