A single trip and fall can change your entire life.
It’s not much to think about when you’re a child, running through youthful years and shaking off skinned knees. When you’re an older adult, though? A slip and fall incident can result in broken bones, serious sprains and even a trip to the emergency room. Even worse? Too many households and work environments are completely unsuitable when it comes to mitigating the risk of slip and fall incidents. When you want to take the initiative and make sure everyone is safe no matter the weather or time of day, you reach out to stair grip tape and no slip stair treads.
Slip and falls may be devastating, but the vast majority of them can be prevented with a little foresight.
Slip and falls happen just about everywhere. In fact, some of the most devastating incidents occur in the safety of your own home. The function of the stair grip tape has only continued to rise in prominence as more and more people, particularly in the elderly population, are sent to the emergency room for losing their balance. Back in 2016 the United States experienced a collective total of 160,000 preventable deaths, as well as 44 million injuries. This totaled $70 billion in medical costs annually, leaving many to ask how these issues could be reduced.
The workplace creates minor to severe hazards regularly. These need to be mitigated through strict workplace laws, properly functioning equipment and employees that are always aware of the risks. One study found 25% of all recently reported workplace injury claims per year are made concerning slips, trips and falls. Another study found 12,000 workplace injuries could have been easily prevented with a little extra foresight. Lastly, age plays a significant factor here. Slips are by and large the most common workplace injury in people aged 55 and up.
The home has its own unique relationship with slip and fall incidents. The United States is seeing a significant portion of its population reaching the age of 65 or older. In fact, by the time 2040 arrives over 20% of the country will be elderly. When a home has creaky railings or slippery stairs it creates an even higher risk of a slip and fall incident. Data provided by The Consumer Product Safety Commission (or CPSC) posits that floors and flooring materials themselves contribute to over two million falls every year. How can removable non slip treads and safety strips for ramps change this?
Slips and falls happen because of a few different reasons. The first is when the surrounding environment is uneven, slick or simply not designed to accommodate a loss of balance. The second is due to age, which increases the risk of sudden dizziness or weakness of limbs. The bathroom, for example, is considered one of the riskiest areas in the home for the elderly. When even a small puddle of water can cause someone to fall over, combined with slick tile and slippery bathtubs, it’s not surprising the bathroom sees the highest incidents of slips and falls in the American household.
Investing in safety treads for outdoor steps and stair grip tape requires additional knowledge about the nature of falls and where they are most likely to occur. There are two types of falls classified — the same level and the elevated — and both hold the potential for severe injury. Nearly 65% of fall injuries occur from same-level falls, with falling down the stairs easily the most deadly of the group. The Department Of Labor even found slips and falls are the second leading cause of death behind vehicles. A single adhesive bath mat could mean the difference between a regular day and a trip to the emergency room.
When all it takes is a loss of balance to put a person in the hospital, it truly pays to put extra effort into safety. How could stair grip tape or yellow fluorescent reflective tape make your environment safer?
