Some workplaces require employees to work on ladders, cranes and steel beams on high-rise buildings, which are certainly red flags for safety. What can also be a safety hazard at work are objects falling from above. Workplace heights are something that should be taken seriously when it comes to the safety of employees, as well as anyone else in the area.

For example, in April, a crane fell in Seattle, killing four people and injuring others. Several years ago a worker on a high-rise dropped a tape measure from 50 stories and killed a passerby below.

Most common height-related hazards

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that being struck by falling objects or equipment resulted in 45,940 injuries in 2017, accounting for 5.2 percent of all workplace injuries. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), dropped objects are the third leading cause of injuries in construction.

In addition to dropped objects, workplace falls are a huge problem. BLS reported that in 2017, “fatal falls were at their highest level in the 26-year history of the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI), accounting for 887 (17 percent) of worker deaths.”

How to improve height safety

EHS Today offers the following tips:

• Employers need to follow best practices. That includes implementing the American National Standard for Dropped Object Prevention Solutions (ANSI/ISEA 121-2018) developed by the International Safety Equipment Association (ISEA), in conjunction with industry stakeholders.
• Employers need to jettison the crass and counterproductive notion called “acceptable risk.”
• Education is vital for improved safety. ISEA — in partnership with the National Association of Tower Erectors and The Associated General Contractors of America — launched SafetyAtHeights.org, an educational website.

At the Law Offices of Deborah G. Kohl, our team fights for construction workers and all others who have been injured on the job in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. We believe that a successful case starts with building a strong, trusting relationship with our clients.

From your first call to your last court date and beyond, we work tirelessly to get you the care and compensation you so rightfully deserve. If you were injured at a job site, don’t wait. Contact us today. We’ll take care of the rest.

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 27th, 2019 at 2:55 pm and is filed under workers' compensation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.