February 19, 2004
The latest Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents report reveals the level of risk involved in common activities such as putting on a pair of pants:
As many as 5,310 people in Britain needed treatment after being felled pulling on a pair of trousers in 2002, up from 3,695 four years previously.
Pant falls are not the only type of trouser-related injury they track:
But on a more encouraging note for British men, there was a mild decrease in the far more serious trouser business of "zip-related mishaps." These eye-watering injuries fell to 700 in 2002 from 800 in 1998.
I don't know about you, but I find eye-watering a rather odd choice of adjective to describe this particular injury. More appropriate suggestions would include life-changing and panic-causing. If direct honesty is desired, separation-anxiety inducing would be also be a most suitable term.
