DIY accidents are costly disasters

Every week 85 New Zealanders injure themselves with lawnmowers. Photo / Northern Advocate

DIY handymen are costing hundreds of millions of dollars in medical bills by putting up wobbly scaffolds, touching live wires and shooting themselves in the hands and feet with nail guns.

The traditional weekend activity is turning the home into the most dangerous place to be, new Accident Compensation Corporation figures show.

ACC injury prevention team leader Ceri Davies said middle-aged handymen often had "just enough tools to get themselves into trouble, but not enough tools to get themselves out of it".

"If you are going to paint the house, make sure you have the equipment," Mr Davies said. "You don't have to fall very far to have a life-changing accident."

An average of 11 people died each week from accidents in their homes in the year to the end of June - an annual total of 573. That compares with the road toll last year of 366.

The Auckland home-accident death rate of 2.92 for every 10,000 people is more than double the national rate of 1.37.

One person is injured around the home every 48 seconds. Nationally, 658,000 people suffered household injuries, which cost $641 million - an average of $975 each.

ACC has released the figures to mark a fresh campaign focusing on safety around the home.

They reveal that the garden is the most dangerous household area, accounting for 17 per cent of all injuries.

Even insects are getting involved, inflicting 25,000 injuries a year. Plants are responsible for about 400 injuries a week.

The kitchen is the most dangerous room in the house in most parts of the country.

ACC will be targeting home handymen - among others - during safety week, which starts on Monday.

Certified Builders Association board member Dave Brown said people falling off unstable ladders was a common injury around the home.

"Your wife says, 'Oh, can you get up there and prune that branch?' So they lean the ladder against the tree. Often it's a case of them putting the ladder on the wrong side of the cut and the whole thing goes.

"Say you're screwing something on a wall above your head with both hands [and] you lose balance. You haven't got time to put your hand out to steady yourself."

Other examples of DIY efforts gone wrong include people striking power cables when stapling insulation under a house and electrocuting themselves, people falling through a ceiling because they didn't know what part to walk on, and people being crushed while working under cars in their garages because the jack hadn't been secured properly.

Lynn Theron, a doctor in Auckland City Hospital's emergency department, said the most common household injury she had seen was people chopping their own fingers off while cooking. Burns were also another common injury in the kitchen.

And carelessness when using pesticides from the garden shed often saw people poisoned by accidently inhaling the fumes.

Mr Davies said the ACC campaign would focus on safety in the home, as "people don't seem to be getting the message".

"Homes are not safe places. People get injured there, and they die there."

YOUR HOME: THE MOST DANGEROUS PLACE TO BE

* Falling from steps or ladders: 77 a week
* Injuries from plants, trees and bushes: 400 a week
* Lawnmower injuries: 85 a week
* Injuries from tools: 480 a week
* Insect bites and stings: 480 a week
* Most accidents (17 per cent) occur in the garden. The kitchen accounts for most injuries inside the house.

- additional reporting by David Eames