Building related accidents are more serious than it is commonly conceived. As a first step to diminish their tragic results, a study was conducted to grasp the state of the art of such accidents. The data sheets of the ambulance activities were examined from the standpoint of building designer to find out implications to building planning and architectural design.

Careful inspection of the original data sheets revealed that about eight percent of the total ambulance activities in Tokyo were estimated to belong to the category of building related accidents. Important findings include:more than seventy percent of the accidents were associated with residential buildings, namely houses and flats; the victims tended to be the age group of under 2 and over seventy; accidents that most frequently occurred were fall type ones--falls on the floors, and falls from stairs; accidents involving glasses and glazings were encountered quite often.

So far, it was pointed out that most important type of accidents associated with building features is fall on the stairs in the sense of severity of injury and frequency of incidence.

Building Design and Use Division
Environment, Design & Fire Department