Kinematic response of the NIOSH developed safety rail system in a laboratory setting.

Details

• Personal Author:
  Bobick TG ; Chiou SS ; McKenzie EA Jr.
• Description:
  Many industries engage in work at elevation. In the construction industry it is a daily occurrence, thus a daily hazard. Occupational fall protection is essential to preventing worker related injuries and fatalities. By definition, "occupational fall protection is the backup system [to a worker's reflexes when] a worker ... could lose his or her balance at a height; its purpose is to eliminate or control injury potential" [Ellis, 2001]. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), Division of Safety Research, Morgantown, WV conducted research related to falls in residential construction. The project evaluated the effectiveness of existing commercial guardrail edge protection systems to prevent falls through roof and floor holes when used as a perimeter guarding system around a hole in a simulated roof work site. Fall-related incidents are the primary cause of fatalities in the U.S. construction industry. An analysis of fatality data from the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI), maintained by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), U.S. Department of Labor (DoL), indicated that in 2007, a total of 1,178 worker fatalities occurred in construction, of which 442 involved falling. Of these 442 cases, a total of 160 involved workers falling from or through a roof, a floor opening, or an existing skylight [BLS, 2007]. These are all situations that could be prevented by implementing a guardrail system near the hazard.
• Subjects:
  Accidents, Occupational Air Pollutants, Occupational Air Pollution, Indoor Environmental Monitoring Insecticides Occupational Health Radiation Safety Ultraviolet Rays
• Keywords:
  Accident-potential Accident-prevention Accident-statistics Accidents Construction-industry Construction-workers Ergonomics Fall-protection Injuries Injury-prevention Risk-analysis Risk-factors

  More +
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Conference/Symposia Proceedings
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 3 ; West Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DSR - Division of Safety Research
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  172-175
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20039946
• Citation:
  Research and Practice for Fall Injury Control in the Workplace: Proceedings of International Conference on Fall Prevention and Protection. Morgantown, WV: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 2012-103, 2011 Nov; :172-175
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2012
• NORA Priority Area:
  Construction
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  Research and Practice for Fall Injury Control in the Workplace: Proceedings of International Conference on Fall Prevention and Protection
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:84d39e1317296e834a2415c44c05c0518608b1bd6e7456144754b4064c5d74a993add8c24180c73eb67f7492218d984dd2c52cdf2df9f0ce05fe6e1690dc9d0a
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/181603/cdc_181603_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 780.03 KB ]