Falls Through Roof and Floor Openings and Surfaces, Including Skylights: 1992–2000

Details

• Personal Author:
  Bobick, Thomas G.
• Description:
  Fall-related occupational injuries and fatalities are still serious problems in the U.S. construction industry. Two Bureau of Labor Statistics databases-Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries and Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses-were examined for 1992-2000. An important subset of falls-to-lower-level incidents is when workers fall through openings or surfaces, including skylights. A total of 605 fall-through fatalities occurred during 1992-2000. Also, 21,985 workers were injured seriously enough from fall-through incidents to miss a day away from work (DAFW). Fall-through injuries are among the most severe cases for median number of DAFW. Median DAFW were 35, 11, 25, 12, and 36 for fall-through roof and floor openings, roof and floor surfaces, and skylights, respectively, compared to 10 DAFW for all fall-to-lower-level incidents in all U.S. private industry. A conservative approach, which assumes that direct and indirect costs are equal, estimates a range of $55,000-$76,000 for the total cost of a 1998 DAFW fall-through injury. Current work practices should use commercial fall-prevention products to reduce the frequency and costs of fall-through incidents. These analyses have identified a subset of fall-related incidents that contribute to excessive costs to the U.S. construction industry. Researchers can use a systems approach on these incidents to identify contributing risk factors. Employers and practitioners can alert managers and work crews about these dangerous locations to eliminate these hazards that are often obvious and easy to rectify. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Construction Industry Mortality Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Risk Assessment Risk Factors Safety Safety Management
• Keywords:
  Construction-industry Construction-workers Floors Hazards Injuries Injury-prevention Mortality-data Mortality-rates Occupational-hazards Occupational-safety-programs Risk-analysis Risk-factors Roofers Roofing-industry Safety-education Safety-measures Traumatic-injuries

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• ISSN:
  0733-9364
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• 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
• Volume:
  130
• Issue:
  6
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20026058
• Citation:
  J Constr Eng Manage 2004 Dec; 130(6):895-907
• Contact Point Address:
  Thomas G. Bobick, PhD, CSP, Research Safety Engineer, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Division of Safety Research, 1095 Willowdale Road, Mailstop H-G800, Morgantown, WV 26505-2888
• Email:
  txb4@cdc.gov
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2005
• NORA Priority Area:
  Construction
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:9739b1f868a5d13e0d9b6bff772f322eac4211239e11420e681f9f6051ff1616281e4866d970b04e8ae552fa27cb2a4bdb69f215f2d6ffdea80a90b2d6b46609
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/197177/cdc_197177_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 2.25 MB ]