Soup, slippers, umbrellas, heaters and firewood aren't as comforting on a cold winter's day as you'd like, with all also contributing to nasty injuries, ACC warns.

A Napier man has been convicted after sending an email threatening to take an ACC branch "hostage".

It is good to see ACC focussing on the important things - such as gumboot injuries. Apparently 160 gumboot-related ACC claims were made last winter.

The number of injuries from horse accidents has risen, costing ACC more than $11 million in claims in one year.

The Accident Compensation Corporation's Earners and Work Accounts are now fully funded ACC Minister Judith Collins has told National Party members at their Northern Regional Conference today.

The number of children seriously hurt while riding push scooters has skyrocketed with their popularity. More than 6000 under-14s were injured last year.

The email mistakes that embarrassed the Earthquake Commission and ACC are having ramifications for the public's right to access information from the state.

The number of injury compensation claims accepted from netball players has increased sharply, far outstripping the rise in the number of people playing the sport.

After the Canterbury earthquakes only 30 per cent of New Zealanders are prepared at home for an emergency and a Civil Defence report says there is little evidence on how prepared businesses are.

"Why is John Key demeaning himself by leading the chorus of ministers jumping up and down saying accidents will happen?" asks Peter Kerr.

All emails and information technology systems have been frozen at the Earthquake Commission tonight in a drastic move to stop privacy breaches.

The man at the centre of the EQC privacy bungle says the email has been binned but he is seeking the legal green light to retrieve it and use it in a legal battle.

Hunting for Easter eggs is coming with a $12.2 million warning this Easter, after nearly 20,000 people injured themselves at the expense of taxpayers last year.

A grandmother who fell pregnant after a surgeon clamped her bladder instead of a fallopian tube has been granted ACC compensation - 15 years on.

More than half of motorcycle and scooter users are ignoring warnings about wearing safety gear, risking horrific preventable injuries, experts say.

About 200 families from around the world have written to PM John Key demanding better control, monitoring and regulation of the tourism industry.

A woman who says she would have terminated her pregnancy had doctors properly diagnosed her unborn child with spina bifida is seeking ACC cover for her disabled daughter.

A review has quashed ACC's decision to decline a West Coast man's claim for weekly compensation for health problems resulting from solvent exposure at Stockton mine.

The parents of a toddler who were not told he had fallen heavily on his first day of childcare discovered he had a 6cm skull fracture 24 hours later.

Former ACC chief executive Ralph Stewart received a performance bonus of $100,493 when he left the corporation, it has been revealed.

The exodus of board members and managers in the wake of privacy breaches at ACC last year cost the taxpayer $5000 in farewell and welcome functions.

More than $2 million was paid out to workers in government departments last year - with dangerous prisoners and dysfunctional families to blame for a number of claims.

Last year ACC shelled out almost $9 million for summer-related injuries, including $11,000 because of sunburn.