Workplace falls are a universal risk that anyone can experience
Some job risks are career specific. For example, you aren’t going to face danger from vehicles if you work inside an office all day, nor will you have the risk of a burn from a deep fryer if you work in retail customer service. Knowing both job-specific and broader risks can help you reduce the danger of getting hurt while at work.
Some people associate specific kinds of accidents with specific careers even though they are more general risks. Falls are a perfect example. Many people associate workplace falls with jobs that take place at great heights, like commercial window washing or construction. While falls are absolutely risks for people in both of those fields, they also remain a risk for people in just about any job.
How many people get hurt in workplace falls every year?
Falls lead to thousands of people missing days of work and hundreds of death in various industries in any given year. In 2018, the most recent year with analyzed data from the National Safety Council, falls resulted in 791 workplace deaths. There were at least another 240,000 fall-related injuries on record in 2018.
While personal mistakes, ranging from misjudging your own center of balance to improper cleaning practices, can contribute to falls, most of the time they are preventable with adequate safety efforts on the part of a business.
Investing in harnesses and other gear for those working outside is one way to prevent falls. Having appropriate flooring on stairs, guardrails wherever possible and banisters for people to grab can also reduce the risk of a job-related fall happening.
A fall from as little as six feet could be deadly
Most people assume that someone has to fall from a significant height to suffer noteworthy injuries or a fatality. However, workers can wind up suffering fatal injuries from a fall of the as little as six feet depending on the motion of their body and where they strike the ground.
Broken bones, brain injuries and spinal cord injuries can all potentially result from falls on the job. Those kinds of severe injuries will likely necessitate workers’ compensation benefits for the worker dealing with an on-the-job injury after a fall.