Most serious accidents occur at home

Members of a Swiss Samaritans Association practise treating someone who has fallen down a flight of stairs © Keystone / Gaetan Bally

Some 1,700 people die each year in a fall in Switzerland and over 15,000 are seriously injured – more than in road traffic and sports combined.

This is the result of the first safety barometer on home and leisure accidentsExternal link, published on Tuesday by the Swiss Council for Accident Prevention (BFU). The report analysed accidents over the past ten years.

The trend is rising, it added. Every year there are 31 more fatal accidents involving falls. People over the age of 85 are particularly affected. People most often suffer serious injuries in their private homes, the BFU said, pointing out that 81% of serious injuries there are falls.

Every year 15 children and adolescents die at home or during leisure activities, according to the barometer. Half of them are infants and toddlers. The greatest risk for them is suffocation or drowning.

To reduce these numbers, the BFU recommends more supervision for small children, plus stair gates and window locks. For older people, it advises installing grab bars in the bathroom, holding the banister when going up or down stairs, and doing exercises for strength and balance.