Across Florida, workers want safe conditions to do their job in. While safety precautions, protocols and laws are in place to facilitate safe working environments, it is not always enough. We see this in the fall statistics, which show a high annual number of falls.
But which industries are the most dangerous to work in? Which industry has the most lethal falls? And can you do anything to prevent them?
How many serious falls happen a year?
The National Safety Council takes a look at matters involving falls on the job. Looking at 2016 statistics, they reveal that 48,060 of the people injured in falls got hurt badly enough to require time off. Of those, 697 workers ended up dying due to their injuries.
But many more people fall in a given year. For example, people working in the government have the highest rate of fall injuries. In 2016, 63,350 people suffered fall injuries. However, 44 people died, which is a low ratio of fatalities for the number. By comparison, there were 24,700 fall injuries in construction. Of those, 384 workers died.
Education and health services had the lowest number of deaths, with 18 deaths for 43,660 injuries. The second-highest death toll fell to professional and business services. There were 22,090 injuries and 111 deaths.
What influences fall numbers?
Many aspects affect the frequency of falls and how lethal they are when they happen. But almost every fall is a preventable incident. To help stop falls from happening, it is important to hold employers to task. You can hold them responsible for updating old equipment and staying updated with safety measures. Only in doing this can falls get reduced.