The Science of Sport · @Scienceofsport
11th Feb 2013 from Twitlonger
Rugby injury risk: Regarding my previous tweet about risk of injury in rugby: A lot of people have jumped on the comparison between rugby and manufacture/construction, pointing out that construction & manufacturing are industries that seek to minimize risk through policies and regulations.
Yes, of course. But do sports not also require the same search for minimal risk? Not zero risk, and of course we accept a different acceptable level of risk, but the lesson is that we can draw from other areas to improve where we are. I'm at a meeting, hosted and organized by the International Rugby Board, for coaches, and part is actions to help reduce risk. The comparison is valid, if only because it provides context and highlights what can be learned from other industry. It's about minimizing risk.
Incidentally, rugby has the highest risk - 90 injuries per 1000 hours of exposure. Ice-hockey is second (75). Others of interest are cricket (3), football (25).
Note that those are ALL injuries. Looking at catastrophic injuries, gymnastics has the highest risk of catastrophic spinal injury. Ice-hockey is high, and surprisingly, cheer-leading. Rugby is middle of the list (40 per 10^6 participants), and also surprisingly, American Football is fairly low (16).
More on the conference to come - I present on Long-Term Athlete Development tomorrow!
Ross