What happens to workplace safety when people live longer? You'd think more nonagenarians would mean more serious injuries among the very old. But the numbers tell a different story entirely.

In 2024, 12,225 fatal or serious injuries were recorded among New Zealanders aged 90 and over. That's the lowest figure in 19 years. You have to go back to 2005 to find anything comparable. (Source: Stats NZ / ACC, fatal-serious-injuries)

Here's what makes this remarkable: New Zealand's population over 90 is growing fast. We have more people in this age group than ever before. Yet the injury count has collapsed by more than half since 2021, when it sat at 29,499.

Something changed between 2021 and 2022. The numbers dropped from 29,499 to 12,597 in a single year. They've stayed low since: 12,672 in 2023, 12,225 in 2024.

This isn't about fewer people. It's about fewer injuries per person. Somewhere in the care system, the safety net got stronger.

Think about what this age group faces daily. Falls are the obvious risk. But so are burns from hot water, medication errors, pressure injuries from immobility. Every one of these 12,225 cases represents someone's mum, someone's koro, someone who needed ACC because the injury was serious enough to affect their income or require significant treatment.

The data doesn't tell us why the improvement happened. Better training in rest homes? More investment in mobility aids? Families keeping older relatives at home longer with better support? All we know is the outcome: the oldest Kiwis are safer now than they've been in nearly two decades.

This matters beyond the numbers. When injury rates drop in the most vulnerable group, it's a signal that prevention systems are working. It suggests resources are reaching the people who need them most. And it means thousands of families avoided the trauma of seeing their oldest members seriously hurt.

The contrast with 2020 is stark. Back then, 28,491 serious injuries among the over-90s. Today, less than half that. Whatever shifted in those years, it stuck.

Good news in safety data is rare enough to notice. This is one of those times. New Zealand's oldest citizens are living in a safer environment than they have in a generation. The question now is whether we can learn from whatever made this happen and apply it everywhere else.