Alcohol and injury
Drinking alcohol can increase your risk of injury which can have a devastating effect on your life and those close to you. It can result in hospitalisation, and even death.When people drink too much on one occasion it can cause alcohol-related accidents. Many problems are caused by drinking too much on one occasion, and these problems are preventable. These problems include injury, violence, burns and falls. Anti-social behaviour and problems can also occur with friends, family and third parties.
The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) recommend for healthy men and women, drinking no more than four standard drinks on a single occasion reduces the risk of alcohol-related injury arising from that occasion. 1
Evidence shows that as more alcohol is consumed on a single occasion, skills and inhibitions decrease while risky behaviour increases, leading to a greater risk of injury during, or immediately after that occasion. 1
Facts and Figures
A large range of injuries can occur when you drink alcohol. A large number of people in Western Australia are admitted to hospital for burns, falls, assaults and other injuries as a result of consuming too much alcohol on one occasion.
Did you know?
- From 2007 to 2011, approximately 7,012 people in Western Australia were hospitalised every year due to alcohol-caused injury. The most common alcohol-caused injuries are falls, assaults and suicide attempts. In Western Australia, males accounted for 54% of all alcohol-related injury hospitalisations. 2
- In 2011, in Western Australia, there were 46,807 bed-days as a result of alcohol-caused injury. 2
- From 2007 to 2011 a substantially larger number of males (143) compared to females (40) died as a result of alcohol-caused injury each year in Western Australia. 2
- There are approximately 183 deaths every year in Western Australia as a result of alcohol-caused injury. 2
- Suicide and road injuries are the most common alcohol-caused deaths in Western Australia. 2