Be Careful in the Garden – Over a Third of Household Injuries Take Place in the Garden

It may not be somewhere that seems particularly dangerous, but the garden is somewhere where accidents are incredibly common and there are a number of hazards. It is important that homeowners that have a garden are aware of these hazards and know how they can stop themselves from suffering an injury in their own backyard – read on to find out more.
 
The Site of Many Accidents
Accidents in the home is something that was recently researched by personal injury claims specialists the National Accident Helpline who found that 73% of the 2,000 survey respondents had injured themselves multiple times in the home in the past year alone. Interestingly, one-third (33%) of these respondents claimed to have injured themselves in their own garden (the kitchen was the only area where more accidents happened).
 
Types of Accidents 
So, what kind of accidents are happening in people’s own gardens? It seems that using certain objects in the garden is the most common reason with 33% involving exercise equipment, 20.5% of accidents involving a ladder, 9.7% involving a hosepipe and 9.3% involving a lawnmower. Of course, people are spending more time at home and in their gardens even in winter due to the pandemic so an injury is even more likely which is why people need to be so cautious in the garden.
 
Gender & Age
In terms of gender, men were slightly more likely to injure themselves in the garden with 36.8% suffering an injury in the garden compared to 30% of female respondents. Women were much more likely to injure themselves using exercise equipment, though, at 40% compared to 25% of male respondents. Age is another important aspect to consider and it was the 55-64 age group that had suffered the most injuries in the garden at 44.2% followed by 65+ at 39.3%. Interestingly, it was the younger age groups that had more injuries with exercise equipment with 18-24-year-olds (69%) and 25-34-year-olds (64%) leading the way. 
 
Location 
The survey also considered the location of where people lived and Bristol was the city that had the most number of people that had suffered an injury in the garden with as many as 57.1% of respondents (this could be due to the fact that gardens are more common compared to other cities). As you would expect with this statistic, Bristol is also where the most accidents involving ladders happened with 42.9%.
 
As you can see, the garden can be a dangerous place and people need to take great care when spending time here whether they are exercising outdoors, using a ladder, mowing the lawn or even using a hosepipe. Injuries can change many aspects of life and cause a great deal of pain and suffering, so being aware of these dangers and taking extra caution is important.