Lawn & garden · #9 of 45 by ER visits

Snow shovels: injury statistics

Manual snow and ice removal tools. In 2025 they were involved in an estimated 29,763 emergency room visits in the US.

Snow shovels
Photo: tsimur_asayonak / Unsplash
29,763
ER visits in 2025
11%
admitted or transferred
-5%
change since 2016
35%
aged 65 or over

ER visits per year

2016–2025 · 586 sampled cases in 2025
2016: 31,33516’2017: 25,31217’2018: 28,09718’2019: 25,04119’2020: 13,89620’2021: 20,60321’2022: 19,09322’2023: 11,23323’2024: 18,34324’2025: 29,76325’

Injury type

Share of ER visits, 2021–2025

Other53%
Strain or sprain15%
Fracture9.5%
Nerve damage4.8%
Laceration4.7%
Internal injury4.7%

Body part injured

Share of ER visits, 2021–2025

Lower trunk26%
Upper trunk24%
Shoulder8.0%
Head7.0%
Knee4.6%
Wrist3.6%

Age of injured people

65% male · 2021–2025

0-40.5%
5-142.0%
15-244.2%
25-4421%
45-6438%
65-7421%
75+14%

Real cases

From NEISS case narratives, 2024–2025. Abbreviations expanded.

53-year-old male, complains of pressure-like chest pain which began while shoveling the snow, — diagnosis: Chest pain unspecified.
52-year-old male hit right eye on a snow plow, complains of blurred vision, — diagnosis: Corneal abrasion.
31-year-old male after fall. He was outside shoveling snow when he slipped on a piece of ice, falling, and struck the back of his head. — diagnosis: Acute post-traumatic headache, non-intractable, sprain anterior talofibular ligament right ankle.
63-year-old male, was shoveling snow at home this morning when he slipped and fell, struck his head with loss of consciousness for about 2 minutes, exam reveals a hematoma to scalp, no thinners, — diagnosis: Subarachnoid hemorrhage; subdural hemorrhage.
Recalls

Recalls of snow shovels

1 since 2010
Avalanche Rescue Snow Shovels Recalled by Mountain Safety Research Due to Risk of Failure During Emergency Rescues (Recall Alert)2015-05-12Snow shovels

Questions

How many people are injured by snow shovels each year?

About 29,763 people were treated in US emergency rooms for injuries involving snow shovels in 2025, according to CPSC's NEISS estimates. The average over 2021–2025 was 19,807 a year.

What are the most common injuries from snow shovels?

Other is the most common diagnosis (53% of cases 2021–2025), and the lower trunk is the most often injured body part (26%).

How often do injuries from snow shovels need hospital admission?

11.4% of ER visits ended with the patient admitted or transferred to another hospital in 2021–2025.

About these numbers

National estimates from the CPSC National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS), product code 1415. A case is counted if the tool appears in any of its three product fields. Estimates under 1,200 or based on fewer than 20 cases are flagged. Methodology · CSV

Related tools

Chain saws29,535Shovels, rakes & garden hand tools27,539Pruning tools (powered & manual)25,357Riding mowers & garden tractors16,479