Ladder-related fall injuries

This Briefing provides an overview of hospitalised injury due to falls from ladders. Injurious falls from ladders requiring admission to hospital occurred at a rate of 18.5 per 100,000 population in the year to June 30 2005 (n= 3,486). Two-thirds of hospitalised injury incidents due to falls from ladders in this year resulted in fractures and more than 40% of falls from ladders occurred in the home. Rates increased markedly with age and, unlike most other types of fall injuries, falls from ladders were more common for older males than for older females. Both the number and the rate of injurious ladder-related falls have increased for older Australians in recent years.