Falls from ladders in Australia: comparing occupational and non-occupational injuries across age groups

To examine national ladder-related fall injury patterns and trends, and compare the changes over time in occupational and non-occupational falls across age groups.

Analysis of national hospital morbidity data to examine trends over time and differences between groups.

There were 41,092 hospitalised falls from ladders in Australia over the ten year period from July 2002 to June 2012, rising from 3,374 hospitalisations in 2002/03 to 4,945 hospitalisations in 2011/12. The age standardised rate of ladder-related fall hospitalisations rose significantly for males, and a higher increase was evident in people aged over 60 years. Occupational falls accounted for 20% of hospitalisations, and the hospitalisation rate for both occupational and non-occupational falls increased significantly over the ten year period.

With almost 5,000 hospital admissions per year in recent years and a significant rise in the rate of hospitalisations over the past decade, this paper highlights the importance of focusing injury prevention efforts to reduce the growing number of ladder-related falls.

This study demonstrates the significant burden that ladder-related falls are continuing to have on the community, both in the occupational and domestic setting.