Unintentional Injuries in Austria

A fall from a ladder, a burn in the bathroom, an injury playing football: isolated incidents and private matters? The fact is that almost three-fourths of all accidents occur in the areas of home, leisure and sports and almost half of all missed work days due to illness result from such accidents. Private matters? – far from it. Public authorities definitely bear a measure of responsibility: many accidents can be prevented by removing unnecessary sources of risk and creating a safe living environment, particularly for children and the elderly, through appropriate regulations.

837,000 accidents occurred in 2006, with fatal consequences for 2,520 people. Approximately 169,300 received in-patient hospital treatment, of which 8,600 must live with a permanent disability. In addition to the personal suffering caused by accidents, there are also enormous costs for the general public. The direct costs resulting from accidents amounted to roughly 3.4 billion euro.

Every 10th Austrian has had an accident
Of the 837,000 accidents, the greatest share (72%) occurred in the areas of home, leisure and sports. 22 percent of the accidents took place at work or in school and six percent in traffic. The most fatalities also occurred at home or during leisure activities: 1,400 people suffered fatal injuries in these areas (56% of all fatal accidents), and 730 people (29%) died on Austria’s roads. Work accidents claimed 189 lives (8%) and sports accidents claimed 201 (8%). The risk of loosing one’s life in an accident is highest in traffic: 14 of every 1,000 traffic accident victims were killed while accidents in the area of home and leisure claimed three lives each per 1,000 accident victims, and the rate for sports accidents was one death per 1,000.