Fall Prevention - General Statistics Related to Slips, Trips, & Falls

Fall Prevention - General Statistics Related to Slips, Trips, & Falls

Accidents involving slips, trips, and falls are responsible for causing a great number of serious injuries in the workplace, as well as being the cause of many work-related fatalities. In fact, U.S. government statistics reveal the following facts of interest:

·       Nearly one out of every four non-fatal workplace injuries experienced by workers each year are the result of slips, trips, and falls.

·       Accidents involving slips, trips, and falls are always one of the leading causes of workplace fatalities each year, usually ranking behind only motor vehicle accidents.

·       Falls account for approximately 40% of all fatalities experienced by construction workers and are the second leading cause of serious injuries in the construction sector. However, the raw numbers of fall-related deaths and serious injuries that occur at non-construction workplaces outnumber those occurring at construction sites.

·       The types of falls at work vary, with approximately 80% reported being a fall from one level to a lower level, and the other 20% being a fall to the same level.

·       The workers compensation costs associated with fall-related injuries typically rank higher than the average costs associated with most other types of injuries.

·       Annually, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, also known as OSHA, consistently issues the greatest number of citations to companies for violations of their fall protection and prevention standards, as compared to other categories of standards.

·       Injuries and fatalities associated with slips, trips, and falls are not restricted to just the workplace; fall-related injuries and deaths frequently occur at peoples’ homes and other locations not associated with the workplace.

Injuries and fatalities caused by slips, trips, and falls in the workplace are a widespread problem. And despite the variety of factors leading up to past incidents, did you know that all those accidents had one thing in common? Not one of those people went to work that day expecting to be injured or killed in a fall.

So, it is important that we all focus our attention and efforts towards trying to prevent these types of accidents. Therefore, our upcoming series of toolbox talks will focus on safety tips and regulations we can utilize to help avoid accidents, injuries, and fatalities associated with slips, trips, and falls in the workplace.