The surface is dry and has no obstacles on it, but a worker running up the ramp trips on something, maybe his shadow, and falls flat down and knocks the air out of his lungs.
A mile or so away a rope ladder is extended 50 feet above a pile of rough uncut rocks. After fastening his safety harness, the worker scampers up the course of the ladder without a false move and reaches the landing at the top in record time.
Any time there’s a difference of more than a few inches between where the person is standing, walking, or running, and a lower plane, a fall can happen. An obstacle of any size can do as well. A worker can stumble on a piece of scrap metal. An executive in a three-piece suit can slip on the carpet and sail down a spiral staircase.
Falling on level ground
We tend to think of a fall as descending without control from a rather high elevation to the ground. Liberty Mutual, the insurance company that publishes an annual workplace safety index, puts that thought to rest. Their data shows that falls from the same level are not only the most common type of fall but are also the second most common cause of all workplace injuries.
When a person loses his or her balance and takes a tumble, the tendency is to try to break the fall by extending one or both hands. The result is often a twisted wrist with bruising, swelling, and broken bones. Wrenching of the back and neck while falling can cause injuries to those body parts, and even head injuries can occur from a fall to ground level.
The impact of landing on a hard surface from six feet or more above can cause internal injuries as well as concussions, fractures, and severe bruising.
What caused the fall?
The fall event can often be stepped back in time to determine the exact cause. A slick floor from a liquid spill, for example, or a loose board on a scaffold can point to the obvious reason for the fall. If the injured worker is conscious, he or she can probably remember what happened before the fall.
Some falls have no apparent or physical reason but are the result of a temporary loss of balance. Careful questioning about past falls, medication, and the worker’s state of mind at the time of the fall may help sort out the facts and arrive at a conclusion about what happened. Armed with accurate information about the cause of the fall, supervisors can take steps to avoid such an event in the future.
What we pay for slips, trips, and falls
Slips, trips, and falls are costly, accounting for 15 to 20 percent of all costs related to workers’ comp and 15 percent of all work-related deaths, according to the US Department of Labor.
There is no such thing as a fall-proof workplace, but attention to the details that can help stabilize a floor, ladder, stairs, or other support is well worth the effort. Along with making physical modifications, a workplace that puts the prevention of falls at a high priority in safety and job training is a safer workplace.
- Facts about falls in the workplace by the Bureau of Labor Statistics
- Reducing Workplace Falls, by BNET
- Major causes of workplace injury, by Liberty Mutual
Posted by hodicom 