Poles
Twenty years of CPSC NEISS emergency-room records for this consumer product category, combined with demographic breakdowns, multi-year injury trends, and matching recall notices.
Building Materials & Home Structures · CPSC Code 1865
Stable over 5 years
The verdict
Poles carry a danger score of 41/100 (moderate risk), driven by roughly 44,822 ER-treated injuries a year that are roughly flat over the last five years.
- 41/100
- danger score (moderate risk)
- 44,822
- ER visits per year (avg)
- 4.0%
- end in hospital admission
- 5-14
- most-injured age group
Every figure is rendered from the CPSC NEISS record for product code 1865 - last data year 2024.
PlainSafety danger score
How this 41/100 score is built
The score is computed from four CPSC-derived factors for poles - no opinion, no editorializing:
- Injury volume44,822 ER visits/yr
- Severity (hospitalization rate)4.0%
- Fatality rate0.04%
- 5-year trend-6%
See the full methodology for the exact weighting of each factor.
What the CPSC Data Shows
Poles (CPSC product code 1865, in the Building Materials & Home Structures category) generate an estimated 44,822 emergency-room visits every year in the United States, adding up to roughly 896,442 ER-treated injuries across the 20-year span from 2005 to 2024. PlainSafety derives a danger score of 41/100 for this category (moderate risk), combining raw injury volume, demographic reach, severity of outcome, and multi-year trend. The five-year trajectory shows that injury counts are roughly flat over the last five years, with the busiest year on record being 2024 (61,487 estimated ER visits) and the quietest 2020 (29,245 estimated visits).
The single most common ER diagnosis for poles is internal injury to the head, accounting for approximately 139,918 visits across the 20-year NEISS window, followed by laceration to the face (112,357 cases). The 5-14 age group absorbs the largest share of injuries, about 335,066 cases over the NEISS window, and males appear slightly more often than the opposite sex in that cohort. Severity outcomes from the NEISS disposition field show that 4.0% of ER visits involving this product end in hospital admission or transfer, and a small fraction (0.04%) result in fatality.
Beyond the hospital-sampled NEISS projections, this page also aggregates 2 consumer incident reports filed directly on SaferProducts.gov, plus 20 anonymized ER narratives - together forming a layered picture of how poles fail in real households. Every figure on this page comes from CPSC-published data: NEISS projects national estimates from a probability sample of about 100 U.S. hospital emergency departments, while SaferProducts.gov collects voluntary reports from consumers, manufacturers, and clinicians. The danger score, trend indicators, and demographic breakdowns update automatically when CPSC releases a new yearly NEISS file, which is why this page is dated 2024-12-31. For regulatory context, consult CPSC recall notices and the SaferProducts.gov public database linked below.
Annual Injury Estimates (2005–2024)
Source: CPSC NEISS national estimates CPSC NEISS national estimates Injuries represent ER-treated cases only
Who Gets Injured?
| Age Group | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-4 | 37,994 | 19,256 | |
| 5-14 | 229,318 | 105,665 | |
| 15-24 | 112,061 | 57,118 | |
| 25-34 | 55,171 | 32,380 | |
| 35-44 | 38,990 | 23,372 | |
| 45-54 | 37,033 | 22,803 | |
| 55-64 | 28,357 | 21,440 | |
| 65-74 | 19,071 | 18,743 | |
| 75+ | 17,351 | 20,061 |
Most Common Injuries
| Body Part | Diagnosis | Est. Injuries |
|---|---|---|
| Head | Internal Injury | |
| Face | Laceration | |
| Head | Laceration | |
| Face | Contusions, Abr. | |
| Head | Concussion | |
| Hand | Contusions, Abr. | |
| Head | Contusions, Abr. | |
| Hand | Fracture | |
| Upper Trunk | Contusions, Abr. | |
| Mouth | Laceration | |
| Knee | Contusions, Abr. | |
| Lower Leg | Laceration | |
| Finger | Laceration | |
| Face | Fracture | |
| Foot | Contusions, Abr. |
Severity Breakdown
ER Visit Narratives
Real anonymized emergency room reports from the CPSC NEISS database.
8 YOM FOREHEAD CONTUSION AFTER RUNNING INTO A POLE AT SCHOOL. HAS SWELLING OF FOREHEAD. DX: FOREHEAD CONTUSION
4YOF WAS INVOLVED IN A MVA. HER GRANDMOTHER WAS DRIVING, THEY WERE GOING APPROXIMATELY 20MPH AND THEY HIT SOME ICE AND HIT A POLE. DX: CERVICAL STRAIN
11YOF WAS INVOLVED IN A MVA. HER GRANDMOTHER WAS DRIVING AND THEY WERE GOING 20MPH AND HIT SOME ICE AND DROVE INTO A POLE. DX: KNEE STRAIN, LIP LACERATION, HAND PAIN
30 YOF REPORTS MVA AFTER HER CAR SLIPPED ON THE ICE HITTING A TELEPHONE POLE AT 11 MPH. RESTRAINED DRIVER WITH AIRBAG DEPLOYMENT. REPORTS SORENESS TO L UPPER SHIN. DX: CONTUSION L SHIN.
10YOF WITH LAC. TO SCALP, FELL AT SCHOOL. STATES SHE AND HER FRIENDS BENT TO GRAB SOMETHING OFF THE FLOOR AND SHE HIT HER HEAD ON A POLE.DX: SINGLE SUPERFICIAL LAC. SCALP.
70YOF COMPLAINS OF PAIN IN RIGHT ARM AFTER A MVC. THE ACCELERATOR GOT STUCK AND SHE DROVE INTO A POLE AT ***. COMPLAINS OF PAIN IN WRIST AND SHOULDER. DX: MULTIPLE CONTUSIONS, STRAIN, SPRAIN OF WRIST, SPRAIN OF SHOULDER
15 YOM S/P SLEDDING ACCIDENT TODAY. HE WAS SLEDDING WHEN HE STRUCK A POLE HITTING HIS HEAD. NO LOC. SCALP LACERATION EXTENDING FROM MID FRONTAL HAIR LINE TO LEFT POSTERIOR PARIETAL REGION, FULL THICKNESS WITH EXPOSED APONEUROSIS. DX SCALP LACERATION
9YOF CHILD HIT HER HEAD ON A METAL POLE WHEN A GUSH OF WIND CAUSED THE INJURY DX: HEAD TRAUMA IN PEDIATRIC PATIENT, CONCUSSION WITHOUT LOSS OF CONSCIOUSNESS
59YOF WAS WALKING DOWNTOWN AND WALKED DIRECTLY INTO A POLE HITTING HER NOSE DX: CONTUSION OF NOSE
73YOM PT LEANED OVER & STRUCK FOREHEAD ON METAL POLE DX: EYEBROW LAC
12 YOM. CHEST PAIN AFTER PT WAS RUNNING & RAN INTO POLE. DX: CONTUSION OF CHEST WALL
93 YOM HAD A MECHANICAL FALL WHILE AMBULATING WITH HIS WALKER, HITTING HEAD ON A POLE. DX: FALL, SCALP LACERATION
Consumer Incident Reports
Reports filed by consumers on SaferProducts.gov.
While removing a ceiling light bulb with the long pole the threaded portion at the top of the pole broke off and the bulb and attached catcher came crashing down.
An 86 YOF decedent lived in a nursing facility. She was trying to get to bathroom. It was dark. The pole was mounted next to a bed with a gap between the pole and the bed. The decedent became trapped between the bed and pole. When she tried to free herself she pitched forward, apparently fractured her neck, and died.
Product Recalls
Search for active and past recalls related to poles on the CPSC website.
Frequently Asked Questions
How dangerous are poles?
Based on 20 years of CPSC data, poles have a danger score of 41/100 (moderate risk). An estimated 44,822 ER-treated injuries occur annually in the U.S. related to this product category.
What are the most common injuries from poles?
The most common injury is internal injury to the head, accounting for approximately 139,918 injuries over 20 years.
Are injuries from poles increasing or decreasing?
Stable over 5 years.
Who is most at risk for poles injuries?
The 5-14 age group accounts for the most injuries, with approximately 335,066 cases recorded over 20 years. Males are more frequently injured in this age group.
What happens when someone is injured by poles?
Of all ER visits involving poles, approximately 4.0% result in hospital admission. The majority of patients (96.0%) are treated and released from the emergency department.
How can I report a safety problem with poles?
You can file a consumer incident report at SaferProducts.gov, the official CPSC reporting portal. Reports help the CPSC identify emerging hazards and trigger investigations or recalls. You can also call the CPSC hotline at 1-800-638-2772.
Related Products in Building Materials & Home Structures
Safety Guides
What this means for you
Treat the 41/100 score as relative risk between products, not your personal odds of injury.
- See where this category ranks against every other tracked product. Full rankings
- Injuries cluster in the 5-14 age group, take extra care if that describes your household.
- Check for active recalls on this product before you assume it is safe. CPSC recalls
NEISS estimates ER-treated injuries from a national probability sample of hospitals; they do not capture injuries treated elsewhere or not treated at all.
Data: CPSC National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) 2005–2024 and SaferProducts.gov consumer incident reports. Injury estimates are based on a nationally representative probability sample of U.S. hospital emergency departments. This page is for informational purposes only and is not affiliated with the CPSC.
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, scored, and verified.
