Accidents more likely in homes than on roads

Press, 12 September 1986, Page 3

Accidents more likely in homes than on roads

PA Wellington New Zealanders were at greater risk of being seriously injured in their own homes than on the roads,’ the Minister of Housing, Mr Goff, said yesterday. Millions of dollars were spent each year promoting road safety, yet little money had been put into promoting safety in the home, he said in an address at the launching of a domestic safety campaign in Auckland. “We hear a lot about attempts to reduce the .road toll, but little about the ‘house toll’,” he said.

“This is an incredible situation, given that several hundred people lose their lives each year in New Zealand as a result of accidents in what we so often refer to as the safety of their own home.” Mr Goff said domestic accidents were predictable, and therefore to a certain extent preventable. “There are many areas in the home where detailed design attention can reduce their potential for causing accidents — familiar areas such as stairs, kitchens and bathrooms.

“Good design that takes into account the behaviour of the inhabitants and removes or reduces the most common causes of accidents and injury will make houses intrinsically safer to live in.” Mr Goff said the Accident Compensation Corporation handled 24,400 claims in 1984 resulting from accidents in the home, compared with 14,000 from road accidents. The cost was $19.6 million, with the cost of claims for this year estimated to be about $25 million.