Hazards in homes and gardens a major injury cost

A significant proportion of injuries in the home, costing millions of dollars a year, are related to how a house is built and maintained, according to new research from the University of Otago, Wellington.This latest study in home injury prevention investigated 1328 home injuries reported to ACC involving 1612 people between 2006 and 2009. It also looked at commonly occurring potential injury hazards in the home that could be repaired at modest cost.Trained inspectors revealed a range of potential injury hazards in many homes including the lack of working smoke detectors (65%), incompletely fenced driveways (55%), hot water temperatures at over 60 degrees (49%) and poorly lit access to the house (34%)."We found...