Soft soles and slippery surfaces may be the cause of a fourfold increase in falls in the home over the last five years.

And while those taking a dangerous fall in the home are mostly expected to be elderly people, the latest figures show that it is the younger lifestyle craze for wooden floors instead of carpets that has led to the massive increase in accidents.

The surge in sales of wooden flooring has kept hospital casualty departments busy. Statistics revealed 12,300 people falling on wood floors in 2002. Five years earlier the figure was only 2,900, said the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA).

Many of these accidents involved slipping when walking about at home barefoot or wearing socks. Falls on carpets also increased from 55,000 to 70,000.

Sarah Colles, RoSPA Home Safety Adviser, said: “Falls anywhere can be serious and the type of surface and footwear can have an effect on safety.”

The RoSPA put the increase in falls down to the popularity of makeover programmes saying, “it would be good if they could give some safety advice amongst all the fashion tips"

Manufacturers planning new products need to design with safety in mind and to provide better safety information, the RoSPA believes.

Modern fashions in clothing are also playing their part too. Pavement-length flared jeans also seems to carry risks, according to the RoSPA. It said "trouser-related mishaps" have nearly doubled to more than 9,000, although these figures don’t all relate to wooden floors.

Other fashions are taking their toll too. The scooter craze had its downside. In 1998, about 2,200 people, mainly children were hurt, usually on ordinary toy scooters. But in 2002 there were 19,700 people injured as the mania for new sleeker scooters reached its height.

And changing cooking habits have led to fresh accident problems. Figures for 2002 show 2,700 people being hurt cooking with microwave ovens, five years before there were only 1,800. About half of these accidents involve burns from hot liquids. In the same period, the number of people injured using conventional cooker hobs reduced from 5,800 to 5,000.

Every year in the UK more than 4,000 people die in accidents in the home and nearly three million turn up at accident and emergency departments seeking treatment. But, because the accidents happen behind closed doors in isolated incidents they rarely attract public and media attention.