A National Overview of Occupational Falls in the United States’ Construction Industry: 1980–1988

Details

• Personal Author:
  Cattledge GH ; Hendricks S ; Stanevich R
• Description:
  Objectives: To identify construction workers at high risk for occupational falls (E880-E888). Methods: National death-certificate analyses were conducted on all fatal occupational falls in the construction industry via the National Traumatic Occupational Fatality database at NIOSH, DSR. Fatality rates were calculated by geographic location (state and region) and Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) categories. Results: From 1980-1988, occupational falls in construction represented 48.3% of fatal occupational falls across all industries. Within the construction industry, there were 2,498 deaths due to occupational falls. Most of these incidents occurred among young white males. By geographical location, fatality rates were higher within the South region of the United States. Sixty-six percent of the fall victims died on the same day as the injury. By SIC codes, employees of special trade contractors (SIC 17) were at highest risk of having an occupational fall (86.5/100,000 workers). The three categories within SIC 17 with the highest fatality rates (per 100,000 workers) were: roofing, siding; and sheet-metal work (112.4); structural steel erection (105.9), and glass and glazing work (699.6). People employed as roofers (70.5% in SIC 1761) and ironworkers (81 % in SIC 1791 and 92.5% in SIC 1793) had the highest percentage of fatalities. Conclusions: Based on the analyses, it was observed that construction workers in SIC 17 are at highest risk for having an occupational fall. Further research is needed to identify the circumstances surrounding these ·falls and how preventive strategies could reduce injuries and fatalities. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Accidental Falls Accidents Construction Industry Mortality Occupational Health Occupational Injuries Safety
• Keywords:
  Construction Industry Construction Workers Falls Fatalities Injuries Occupational Accidents Roofers Roofing And Sheet Metal Work
• Publisher:
  Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Abstract or Summary
• Place as Subject:
  Georgia ; Illinois ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 4 ; OSHA Region 5 ; 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:
  307-308
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20059844
• Citation:
  Second World Conference on Injury Control, May 20-23, 1993, Atlanta, Georgia. Des Plaines, IL: Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine, 1993 May; :307-308
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1993
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  17 - Special Trade Contractors - (SIC) ; 1761 - Roofing, siding, and sheet metal work - (SIC) ; 1793 - Glass and glazing work - (SIC)
• Source Full Name:
  Second World Conference on Injury Control, May 20-23, 1993, Atlanta, Georgia
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:82eb2091d54a1148b5002a6b33eacb4e3a7e9f63cc34f660a352952a52fa5ef8ab2ff4783c4a364310d60f5cf11276baebcb175520bf47d32effd522bb330edc
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/223910/cdc_223910_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.17 MB ]