Workplace Design Solutions: Preventing Falls from Heights through the Design of Embedded Safety Features

Details

• Journal Article:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Personal Author:
  McKenzie, E. A. Jr. ; Gillen, Matthew ; Afanuh, Susan E.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  Construction is one of the most dangerous industries [Toole and Gambatese 2008], and falls are a frequent cause of fatal injuries in this industry. Of the 4,693 fatal work injuries that occurred in 2011, 553 (12%) were the result of falls to a lower level. Fatal falls in construction accounted for 46% of all work-related fatal falls in 2011 [BLS 2012]. OSHA estimates that each fall from an elevated position in construction (both fatal and nonfatal) costs between $50,000 and $106,000 [OSHA 2012]. Workers are at risk of falling during initial construction, and after completion during operation, maintenance, renovation, and demolition of buildings. Facility features associated with falls include floor and roof edges, elevated platforms, ledges, atria, skylights, machine rooms, and ladders and stairways. Falls can occur from temporary structures used in construction and maintenance such as scaffolds or ladders, or from permanent locations such as roofs. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Accidental Falls Accidents Accidents, Occupational Construction Industry Facility Design And Construction Morbidity Mortality Occupational Health Safety Safety Management
• Keywords:
  Construction; Construction-industry; Construction-workers; Fall-protection; Morbidity-rates; Mortality-rates; Injuries; Traumatic-injuries
• Source:
  Cincinnati, OH: 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. 2014-124, 2014 May; :1-4
• Series:
  NIOSH Numbered Publications
• Subseries:
  Workplace Design Solutions
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Periodical
• Place as Subject:
  Ohio ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 5 ; West Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DSR - Division of Safety Research ; EID - Education and Information Division
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  4 pdf pages
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20044376
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2014-106316
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2014
• NORA Priority Area:
  Construction ; Manufacturing
• Performing Organization:
  New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:e85cf37c61cc45e44ded98f7a818404c28075a20a1d12b3690d203800da649fb162e2c4cde49d058f78d8332963dfac3951fbc0c76c2849087f179ea97886f61
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/23232/cdc_23232_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 396.38 KB ]