A new study has named construction as the most likely industry to experience falls in the workplace, topping the ranking with an average of 4.72 fatal falls per 100,000 full-time workers each year. Building, grounds cleaning, and maintenance occupations are in second place in the ranking, experiencing an average of 1.53 fatal falls in the workplace per year. Installation, maintenance, and repair is the third most likely industry to experience falls in the workplace. Between 2011 and 2022, the industry had an average of 1.10 fatal falls in the workplace per 100,000 full-time workers.
Attorneys at the litigation law firm Callahan & Blaine analyzed data from the National Safety Council between 2011 and 2022 to calculate the average number of fatal falls within each industry per 100,000 full-time workers. This figure then determined the final ranking.
The study obtained data from both lower-level falls and same-level falls to determine the ranking. For lower-level falls, the point of contact with the source of the injury was lower than the surface supporting the person at the start of the fall. Meanwhile, same-level falls do not involve the individual falling from an elevated height, and the source of the injury is at the same level as the person at the time of the fall. In 2022, there were 700 fatalities due to lower-level falls in the workplace, with the construction and extraction occupations accounting for 411 of these.
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