2. Occupational accidents

Fig. 1 illustrates the proportion of death and injury in 2009 by type of accident.

Fig. 1. Death and injury by accident type in 2009

In 2005, casualties from tumbles (resulting in four or more days of leave) were, with the exception of “falls,” the worst category in terms of frequency. In 2009, they had increased by 20.2%.

According to the Tokyo Labor Bureau’s Labor Standards Bureau’s “Guidelines on Safety, Hygiene, and Prevention of Accidents in the Elderly,” tumbles accounted for 26.2% of all accidents by elderly workers, or close to one quarter of all accidents. If we add falls to this, these accidents account for nearly half of all accidents.

In this way, you can see that tumbles and falls in the elderly occur with great frequency.

With the extension of employment systems leading to growing numbers of elderly people working, it is forecast that the proportion of persons dying or sustaining injuries from tumbles will grow.