Managing falls from vehicle injuries: prevalence, severity and importance

Despite a decline in the incidence of serious claims in transport in recent years, there is still a substantial work health and safety (WHS) performance gap between transport and other industries. Using workersr compensation data, this paper examines the association between common mechanisms of incident and common agencies of incident in transport in Queensland. The analysis finds that the most important injury cluster entails falls from a height from trucks, semitrailers and lorries. A content analysis of claim narratives reveals that the majority of these claims are due to falls from the vehicle (54 per cent) or falls while exiting the vehicle (31 per cent). From 2012, transport operators in Queensland have specific duties manage risks to health and safety associated with falls and this paper will outline some the most effective methods to protect workers from the risk of fall injuries from vehicles.