Fall Statistics

The source of this information is OSHA, the Department of Labor (DOL), or the Center for Disease Control (CDC):

• 14% of all fall accidents are fatal.
• Since 1992 serious injuries and fatalities due to falls have been on the rise in spite of new regulations and better operations and practices.
• In 2006 there were 809 fall accident fatalities in the USA; from roofs, unprotected walks, ladders, scaffolding, staging, etc.
• Surprisingly, the distribution of falls of various heights from 6' to over 100' is roughly evenly spread out. Fatalities from falls of under 6' are rare. Falls to hard surfaces tend to be more fatal (abrupt deceleration causes severe unjuries, head injuries substantial).
• Falls cost businesses over $170B a year in medical, wages, lower productivity, lower morale and other negative impacts.
• The actual number of non-fatal fall accidents is unknown, as not all are reported.
• The costs of litigation and settlements is unknown.
• The costs of OSHA citations can be quite substantial.

News from the Bureau of Labor Statistics

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), Bureau of Labor Statistics has just released its August 20, 2008 Report for 2007.

Since 1992 the fatal falls stat has increased 39% to 835, from 600. See the green trend-line in the chart, taken from the DOL BLS 2007 report.

This in spite of new and improved OSHA regulations and industry concensus standards such as the I-14.1-2001, not to mention most construction firms now have the new post of "Safety Director" to create safety manuals, monitor practices on site, prevent accidents before they happen. Unfortunately, there aren't enough OSHA inspectors for all the