Far out Friday: Ice cream injuries cost thousands for ACC

The latest statistics released by NZ’s Accident Compensation Corporation reveal that the delicious dairy treat is a major summer hazard that has racked up thousands in claims.

Want to know what the scoop on ice cream is?

It turns out that a moment of yummy frozen sweetness on the lips also meant painful injuries to the hip for one unfortunate New Zealand’s Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) claimant this summer.

The total costs for the 13 ACC claims caused by ice cream this summer were $2,724, with injuries such as a hurt wrist from scooping ice cream, another for back pain from lifting an ice cream tub, and the aforementioned one for slipping on ice cream on the floor.

The good news is the figures were down considerably on last year’s, which racked up $14,642 worth of claims, Fairfax Media reported.

But the summer season brought other hazards, with the major one being barbecue accidents prompting over $91,000 worth of claims.

These were caused by people burning themselves on hot barbecue covers, dropping barbie plates on their feet, and falling into the barbecue.

Even worse, however, were the hazards posed by sand.

About 2,500 people injured themselves with the tiny golden grains, with $1.71 million paid out to them between January, February and December of 2015.
Injuries included rolled ankles from diving into sand bars, falling over in sandpits, burnt feet from hot sand or getting sand in the eye, which put one person in hospital this summer.

THIS SUMMER'S TOLL
Payouts for December 2015 and January 2016:
$520,618 for barbecue, playground, ice cream, sand, sunburn and burnt feet injuries
$378, 669 for sand-related injuries
$87, 782 for barbecue injuries
$47, 533 for burns to the feet
$3494 for sunburn
$2725 for ice cream injuries
$738 for playground equipment injuries

This article is from our sister site Insurance Business NZ by Maryvonne Gray.