Construction workers' falls through roofs: fatal versus serious injuries.

PROBLEM The study examined risk factors for fatal versus serious injuries of construction workers' falls through roofs. METHOD Fatal injury falls (N = 10) were matched against serious injury falls (N = 10), and descriptive analyses were carried out retrospectively of investigation reports. RESULTS Fatal injuries occurred predominantly on farms, in the afternoon, and without the use of passive personal fall protective equipment (PPFPE; safety net, lifeline, etc.). In contrast, serious injuries disproportionately occurred in the morning hours, and were likely due to decreased risk perceptions and less safe behavior, possibly as the result of the greater use of PPFPE. SUMMARY Risk factors for fatal and serious roof fall injury incidents differ in terms of farm/nonfarm location, time of day, and use of PPFPE. IMPACT ON INDUSTRY Occupational injury incident surveillance systems need to collect data systematically regarding the status and role of personal protective equipment (PPE).

[1]  Antti Saloniemi,et al.  Accidents and fatal accidents—some paradoxes , 1998 .

[2]  Anthony Suruda,et al.  Fatal work-related falls from roofs , 1995 .

[3]  G. Chen,et al.  Proportionate mortality among unionized roofers and waterproofers. , 2000, American journal of industrial medicine.

[4]  R.K.B. Hubbard,et al.  Major-minor accident ratios in the construction industry , 1986 .

[5]  Pete Kines.  Occupational Injury Risk Assessment Using Injury Severity Odds Ratios: Male Falls from Heights in the Danish Construction Industry, 1993-1999 , 2001 .

[6]  Arthur R. Copeland,et al.  Accidental Death due to Falls at Work , 1989, The American journal of forensic medicine and pathology.

[7]  Christopher A. Janicak,et al.  Fall-Related Deaths in the Construction Industry , 1998 .

[8]  G H Cattledge,et al.  Nonfatal occupational fall injuries in the West Virginia construction industry. , 1996, Accident; analysis and prevention.

[9]  K. Ringen,et al.  Safety and health in the construction industry. , 1995, Annual review of public health.

[10]  Dan Petersen,et al.  Techniques of safety management , 1971 .

[11]  W. Halperin,et al.  Mortality patterns among construction workers in the United States. , 1995, Occupational medicine.

[12]  Lars Jensen,et al.  Factors contributing to the differences in work related injury rates between Danish and Swedish construction workers , 2003 .

[13]  K. Ringen,et al.  Why construction is different. , 1995, Occupational medicine.

[14]  Kaija Leena Saarela,et al.  Fatal and non-fatal occupational accidents: identical versus differential causation , 1992 .

[15]  Linda Forst,et al.  Fatal Falls in the US Construction Industry, 1990 to 1999 , 2001, Journal of occupational and environmental medicine.

[16]  工業講話会.  安全装置工業事故豫防法 = Industrial accident prevention , 1918 .

[17]  Ronny Lardner,et al.  Accidents in Perspective , 2005 .

[18]  G. Chen,et al.  Work-Related Fatal-Injury Risk of Construction Workers by Occupation and Cause of Death , 1998 .