Falls injuries

Upper GI bleeding Intermittent claudication Urinary retention Falls, injuries... 

In addition to the motivating factors, safety and health professionals should be aware that the safety and health function, unlike other operational functions, can be influenced by other factors beyond the safety and health professional s control, which can impact the safety and health function and motivation of the workforce. For example, if the operation is anticipating a reduction in the workforce (RIF), this anticipation could result in higher injury rates, increased workers compensation costs, and related factors. The safety and health function also possesses the seasonal or operational ebb and flow of the specific operations. For example, the number of slip-and-fall injuries increases during the months of November through February when snow is on the ground. Safety and health professionals should be keyed in to the unique features of the specific operations and workforce. 

Provide adequate training to all medical team members, including residents and students, on fall-injury risk assessment and on postfall assessment. 

Review facility historical accident and injury records to assist in identifying slip, trip, and fall hazards. Establish written housekeeping procedures and reqnire everyone including patient care staff to immediately report spills and other floor hazards. Incorporate slip, trip, and fall prevention education into recurring safety training. Conduct awareness campaigns to educate employees about the risk of slips, trips, and falls. Provide feedback on the actions taken to prevent slip, trip, and fall injuries. 

S.M. Szymusiak and J.P. Ryan, Prevention of Slip and Fall Injuries, Part 1, Professional Safety, June 11-15 Part 2, July 30-35 (1982). 

Templer, John and Archea, John, Stairway Design for Reducing Fall Injuries in Industry, Georgia Institute of Technology, September 1983. Available at https //smartech.gatech.edu/bitstream/1853/32709/l/d-48-637 280020 fr.pdf... 

Common issues that result in hospital visits after a fall event, even when using fall protection, are improper calculation of fall distance, failure to recognize injury hazards impacted during a fall, and swing fall injuries. 

Swing fall injuries can occur when the attachment point is not directly over the worker s head. The worker can swing or be pulled back into the work platform quite violently. 

Analysis of the accident database allows safety professionals to learn from the experience of the entire industry. The factors responsible for many ground fall injuries emerge from this analysis, and possible solutions can be identified as well. It also allows for the timely recognition of trends, both from a standpoint of identifying successful interventions as well as focusing on emerging issues. 

Unfortunately, recent trends indicate that ground fall injury rates have stopped decreasing, and... 

Next, we ask whether the LTI-rate is a valid indicator of the risk of losses dne to accidents. This criterion is more problematic, since the LTI-rate is insensitive to the severity of the injuries. An eye injury resulting in a few days of absence and a severe fall injury with many months of sick leave connt equally when calculating the LTI-rate. It is questionable whether the LTI-rate is a valid indicator of the risk of losses due to accidents. Other SHE performance indicators that we will look into in the next Section are better suited as to validity, since they account for the degree of harm (e.g. number of days of absence). 

Fall to lower level Unsecured work at height on top of furnaces Falling injury 3 3 M Installation of work platform... 

Properly patch holes in the warehouse floor as they occur. Doing this can help prevent a slip/ fall injury, and it will help cushion the ride for powered equipment operators. 

---