Workplace No Jewellery Program -

 

Statistical Abstract Injuries

 

Monday, April 9, 2007

Our fellow Americans keep hurting themselves

A few years ago, I was reading a book by the travel writer Bill Bryson in which he quoted some goofy statistics about how Americans hurt themselves. He sourced the Statistical Abstract of the United States, online at www.census.gov.

Every year now, I check the book for updates.

According to the latest Statistical Abstract, 460,309 people went to hospital emergency rooms in 2004 because of knife injuries, but 518,441 went to the ER because of accidents involving beds.

The book doesn't say how these people managed to hurt themselves. I suppose some little monkeys were jumpin' on the bed and fell off and broke their heads, but surely that doesn't account for all 518,000 injuries.

The book says 101,420 people went to the ER because of accidents involving hand or power saws, but 223,260 went because of accidents involving household containers and packaging, and 306,523 went because they managed to somehow hurt themselves with chairs. 327,041 needed emergency care because they weren't able to successfully use a door.

 

Also, 81,948 injured themselves on lawn mowers, but that's only only slightly better than the 79,753 who hurt themselves with jewelry.

Our Solution - Workplace:  Workplace No Jewellery Program

Our Solution - Sports:  LeClasp Sports Jewellery Holder for Athletes

 


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