Again strains, damaged bones and even an amputated leg are among the many severe accidents which have befallen undertakers as they shoulder the burden of Britain’s weight problems disaster.
Harm information disclosed in response to a freedom of knowledge request by the Every day Telegraph present that funeral administrators have reported a string of mishaps ensuing from the rising weight of coffins.
In accordance with Nationwide Well being Service statistics, the inhabitants is a few stone heavier than it was a era in the past, with the common waistline amongst middle-aged males measuring roughly 40in, and girls coming in at roughly 36in.
And whereas these figures are putting insupportable stress on the NHS, it isn’t only a public well being difficulty.
Two undertakers in Newbury, Berkshire suffered harm after placing a physique on a stretcher , with one straining their again and different wrenching a shoulder.
That they had tried to maneuver the deceased with out the assist of colleagues in response to the misery of bereaved members of the family.
In one other incident, a Co-Op worker was pressured to bear surgical procedure on a damaged hand after a coffin containing an chubby physique slid into his fingers, crushing them.
‘The burden of the deceased’ brought about one other Co-op undertaker to injure his again as he negotiated a flight of stairs on the way in which to a church funeral.
Outsized coffins should be customized constructed, which means extra charges for bereaved members of the family
Outsized coffins can value greater than double the value of a regular casket
An ordinary casket usually measures between 24 and 27 in vast, however producers are actually producing coffins as vast as 52 in, able to becoming an individual weighing as much as 1,000 kilos
In some of the stunning incidents, an undertaker needed to have a leg amputated after bumping right into a park bench and sustaining a wound that turned septic.
In a single case, three undertakers conveying the physique of a 25-stone man all suffered harm after negotiating a flight of stairs.
Trolleys are more and more utilised to move heavy our bodies, with pallbearers struggling to hold coffins on their shoulders.
The typical chubby Brit prices the well being service at the least £1,000 in healthcare prices per 12 months, a brand new main evaluation suggests.
However these thought-about very overweight, with a physique mass index over 40, value the NHS round £5,000 per head, as a result of weight-related well being troubles.
