Injuries falls from height

Mazin A. Tuma, John R. Acerra, et al. Epidemiology of Workplace-Related Falls from Height and Cost of Trauma Care in Qatar, International Journal of Critical Illness Injury Science, 3(1) 3-7, Jan.-Mar. 2013. 

Safe Work Australia, Work-Related Injuries and Fatalities Involving a Fall from Height, Australia, October 2013. 

Approximately 25% of fractures in children occur in the lower limb. The injury and fracture pattern vary with age and skeletal maturity. The peak incidence is bimodal, with high energy trauma (falls from height or motor vehicle accidents) peaking in preadolescents and sporting injuries peaking in adolescents. 

It is well known that falls to same levels occur most often in industrial settings. These falls to same level result in many injuries, but falls from heights (elevation)... 

Falls from height are one of the biggest causes of workplace fatalities and major injuries. 

Common causes are falls from ladders and through fragile roofs. The purpose of the Regulations is to prevent death and injury from a fall from height. 

In the same year, falls from height accounted for 28% of the major injuries in the construction industry. 

The occupations where the proportion of major injuries due to falls from height was higher included ... 

Injuries due to falling materials are not limited to materials falling from height. Many fatalities have been caused by the collapse of walls, particularly retaining walls, and by the collapse of excavations. 

Work at height accounts for about 50-60 deaths - more than any other workplace activity - and 4000 injuries each year. During the first two weeks of June 2003, inspectors from the Health and Safety Executive visited 1446 construction sites and stopped all work at one quarter of them due to concerns about the level of risks of falls from height. Another 5% of sites visited were issued with improvement notices. Other problems included a lack of or inadequate toe boards and intermediate guard rails on scaffolding and working platforms. 

Falls from height can result In fractures, serious head Injuries and, In some cases, death. It Is, therefore, essential that special care Is taken to protect workers when they are working at height. 

Work at any height involves a risk of falling. The significance of injuries resulting from falls from height. 

Further analysis of both fatal and major accidents gives a good indication of the problem areas. While the numbers vary from year to year the pattern remains fairly constant with falls from height accounting for some 40% of major injuries and 50% of fatalities. 

Since portable power tools are frequently used on ladders, scaffold structures and platforms, a relatively common result of a person experiencing an electric shock when using a power tool under these working conditions is a fall from height leading to impact injuries. 

Field, B, Larsson, TJ, Kenningham, L Lee, S (2000) Strategic Occupational Injury Prevention Falls from Heights - A Report on Claims, Fatalities and Injury Severity Outcomes. Policy Research Report No 8, Part 3. Victorian Workcover Authority, Melbourne. 

Does it provide a safe working area If in doubt, seek advice, as there are many injuries each year caused by falls or by material dropping from heights. The wearing of safety helmets is a secondary protection and should not be allowed to encourage carelessness. 

Finally, some patients may die before hospitalization because the behavioral effects of the ingested drug may result in traumatic injury. Intoxication with alcohol and other sedative-hypnotic drugs is a common contributing factor to motor vehicle accidents. Patients under the influence of hallucinogens such as phencyclidine (PCP) or lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) may suffer trauma when they become combative or fall from a height. 

The apparatus used meets specified requirements and was safely assembled. The use of mats would not necessarily have prevented or reduced injury received by a person falling from any height. The use of mats around apparatus of this type can occasionally prove more dangerous and increase any level of risk as they can encourage children to be over-adventurous and jump from inappropriate heights. On no account would crash mats or high recoil mats be used as these often provide excessive recoil and exacerbate injury. They also encourage children to take more risks. 

In a study published in the April 29 issue of the CDC s Morbidity and Mortaiity Weekiy Report, older workers were found to be at higher risk of falls from stairs, ladders or heights and for specific types of injuries, including fractures and hip injuries. However, they do not have an increased risk of injury overall compared to younger workers. 

These fractures are uncommon in children accounting for less than 0.05% of all paediatric fractures (Van Frank et al. 1998). The usual mechanism is a fall from a height but unlike adults these fractures can occur following low energy trauma and stress fractures have been reported (Schmidt and Weiner 1982 Wiley 1981). Extra-articular fractures are more common than intra-articular in the skeletally immature (Inokuchi et al. 1998). Up to one third of children have associated injuries - most commonly another lower extremity fracture, with vertebral fractures being much less frequent than in adults (Schmidt and Weiner 1982). 

Falls from a height are the most common cause of serious injury or death in the construction industry. These falls are normally from a height (see Chapter 8) but may also be on the same level. It is important that trip hazards, such as building and waste materials, are not left on site walkways or roadways. 

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