Twenty years of workers' compensation costs due to falls from height among union carpenters, Washington State

Details

• Personal Author:
  Adams D ; Cameron W ; Kucera KL ; Lipscomb HJ ; Schoenfisch AL ; Silverstein BA
• Description:
  Background: Falls from height (FFH) are a longstanding, serious problem in construction. Methods: We report workers compensation (WC) payments associated with FFH among a cohort (n¼24,830; 1989-2008) of carpenters. Mean/median payments, cost rates, and adjusted rate ratios based on hours worked were calculated using negative-binomial regression. Results: Over the 20-year period FFH accounted for $66.6 million in WC payments or $700 per year for each fulltime equivalent (2,000 hr of work). FFH were responsible for 5.5% of injuries but 15.1% of costs. Cost declines were observed, but not monotonically. Reductions were more pronounced for indemnity than medical care. Mean costs were 2.3 times greater among carpenters over 50 than those under 30; cost rates were only modestly higher. Conclusions: Significant progress has been made in reducing WC payments associated with FFH in this cohort particularly through 1996; primary gains reflect reduction in frequency of falls. FFH that occur remain costly. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Accidental Falls Accidents Aging Construction Industry Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Age-groups Author Keywords: Falls From Height Carpenters Cohort Study Construction Construction-industry Construction-workers Construction Work Costs Fall-protection Height-factors Injuries Occupational Injury Statistical-analysis Workers' Compensation Payments

  More +
• ISSN:
  0271-3586
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement ; Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  North Carolina ; OSHA Region 10 ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 4 ; Virginia ; Washington
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  57
• Issue:
  9
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20044197
• Citation:
  Am J Ind Med 2014 Sep; 57(9):984-991
• Contact Point Address:
  Hester J. Lipscomb, PhD, Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Duke University Medical Center, Box 3834 DUMC, Durham, NC 27710
• Email:
  hester.lipscomb@duke.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2014
• Performing Organization:
  Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20090901
• Source Full Name:
  American Journal of Industrial Medicine
• End Date:
  20150131
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:1b722a975d5e540dd46244777219f409b24f3c1f37b08da0b2c9944ea46f26dba11711b17215c631fddc8a15388075b2cfbb4f1b417d114607c1e4287be68fab
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/199973/cdc_199973_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 281.53 KB ]