Preventable injuries claimed 136,053 lives in 2014 – a 57 percent increase since 1992, when deaths from preventable injuries were as low as they had been in 68 years, according to an analysis from the National Safety Council. Preventable injuries are now the fourth leading cause of death in the United States behind heart disease, cancer and chronic respiratory disease.
The data, released at the start of National Safety Month, has prompted NSC to issue a commitment to all Americans to eliminate preventable death in our lifetime.
“Losing someone every four minutes to an injury we know how to prevent is unacceptable,” Deborah A.P. Hersman, president and CEO of NSC, said in a press release. “Eliminating preventable deaths is a lofty goal, but not impossible. We can be successful one company, one family and one life at a time. If we all work together to reduce harm, we will make our world a measurably safer place.”
