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Fun Fact Friday: Furniture fumbles
Te Meka Mīharo o te (Rā) Mere: Ngā wharanga rawa ā-whare
Furniture injuries are common and account for around 12,000 new claims each year. Here are some more furniture facts.
You’ve finally committed to that new piece of furniture. But the downside is, it’s a flat pack. You sigh and pull out the allen key…
We decided to look at how many claims we get for furniture injuries, as injuries around the home make up most claims we get. In fact, on average each year there are 1.2 million new claims for injuries around the home and community. It makes up over 50% of all claims we receive. Injuries around the home can include accidents from DIY, gardening, ladders, lifting or carrying things, and yes, putting together furniture.
We asked our analytics team to look for claims that included these terms:
- flat pack furniture
- flat pack
- furniture
- splinter
- allen key or hex key.
Our numbers were for injury claims registered were between 1 January, 2016 and 31 August, 2019.
Fun facts
There were
18,068
back injuries in the time period.
There were
5,426
shoulder injuries in the time period
There were
4,958
neck/back of head/vertebrae injuries in the time period.
On average, each year there are 12,000 new claims for furniture related injuries.
There’s around 15,000 active claims for furniture related injuries, which means that around 3,000 claims are on-going. This can mean that they’re quite serious.
The cost for these active claims each year is around $12 million.
The top types of injuries include:
- laceration/puncture/sting
- soft tissue injury
- fracture/dislocation.
Splinters are a common injury from furniture, contributing to 17,944 claims in our date range. There were 458 splinters to the eye. Ouch.
Allen keys contributed to a total of 68 injuries in the time period, with six of them to the face.
But when it comes to furniture, whether the term was flat pack, flat pack furniture, or furniture, the primary injury site was the back or spine.
How to prevent injuries around the home
To prevent injuries around the home, it’s best to slow down, take your time and assess any risks.
Check out a couple of our guides on keeping safe at home.
Safety begins at home – Guide to keeping family, friends and whanau safe at your place
