Causes, sources and costs of falls in a helicopter manufacturing plant

Details

• Personal Author:
  Amandus H ; Bell J ; Biddle, Elyce A. ; Tiesman, Hope M. ; Amandus H ; Bell J ; Biddle, Elyce A. ; Tiesman, Hope M.
• Description:
  A project was initiated with a helicopter manufacturing company to evaluate the reduction of injuries and return on investment associated with a company safety program of interventions targeted to reduce injuries in one of their plants employing approximately 3,500 production workers. Risks of falls from elevation include working on stands around the aircraft complete with stairs, standing on aircraft for some assembly work, working on ladders, and climbing onto and off of large production equipment and machines for processing parts and machine maintenance. Risks from falls to the same level include slipping on slippery substances including ice and snow in parking lots and outside walkways, tripping on objects such as tools and parts in walk ways, and tripping on irregular surfaces such as grates and holes in indoor stands and on holes and cracks in outdoor walking surfaces. Bell et al., [2008] used an epidemiologic approach to analyze baseline slips, trips and falls (STFs) in a hospital-based intervention study. They coded the event of STFs using the Bureau of Labor Statistics(BLS) Occupational Illness and Injury Classification Structure (OIICS) [BLS, 1992]. They further categorized the cause of the first initiating event (FIE) and developed a taxonomy of characteristics of the cause of the FIE to supplement the OIICS codes. They reported a high percentage of STFs due to preventable conditions such as slippery substances on surfaces; surface hazards such as holes, cracks, and uneven surfaces; elevated edges of rugs and mats; and falling off chairs. They then implemented a program targeting high risk jobs and areas for hazard evaluation, raising employee awareness to the importance of preventing STFs, housekeeping practices, maintenance and repair, methods of floor cleaning to increase the coefficient of friction, and slip resistant shoes for targeted employees. Employing this approach, STFs were reduced by 50-60%. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Accident Prevention Accidents Accidents, Occupational Epidemiology Manufacturing And Industrial Facilities Morbidity Mortality Occupational Health Risk Assessment Risk Factors Safety Safety Management

  More +
• Keywords:
  Accident-potential Accident-prevention Accident-rates Accident-statistics Factory-workers Injuries Injury-prevention Ladders Morbidity-rates Mortality-data Risk-analysis Risk-factors Safety-education Safety-programs Statistical-analysis Surface-properties Surveillance-programs Traumatic-injuries

  More +
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Proceedings ; Proceedings
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 3 ; West Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) ; National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DSR - Division of Safety Research ; DSR - Division of Safety Research
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health ; Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America ; North America
• Pages in Document:
  32-35
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20039931
• 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; :32-35
• Contact Point Address:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health 1095 Willowdale Road, M/S 1811, Morgantown, West Virginia 26505
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2012
• NORA Priority Area:
  Manufacturing ; Manufacturing
• 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-512:150b0baaafbb950a2bcc38a907d96d758c69ebc6337686c546d49d6555cea0a396beaa272574cd6f693f06d7ff357cca15619572d52bb5d1686c330a7f92f163
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/192976/cdc_192976_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 479.39 KB ]