Job-related diseases cause as many as 60,000 deaths per year. Improvements have been made in a number of occupational injury and illness statistics, but gains made in reducing injuries of one type are often offset by increases in another. Ensure that CEOs and senior management personally set the standard for safety and health performance. Companies will be urged to review and update both their safety and health programs, and the role employees play in them, as part of Workplace Safety Week in June. The Problem Falls in the home and community caused or led to 15,900 deaths in 1998, with older adults most at risk.
Falls are the leading cause of hospital admission for older adults.
The most common serious injury is a hip fracture. More than 24 percent of all people suffering a hip fracture die within a year of the fall and another 50 percent never return to their prior level of mobility and independence. A total of 41 percent of all fall-related deaths occur in the home, and 14 percent take place in residential institutions. Falls will be a growing problem as the average age of the U.S. population increases and bone-weakening diseases such as osteoporosis increase the likelihood that falls will lead to death or disabling injury. The Problem More Americans of every age between one and 29 die from motor-vehicle crashes than from any other cause.