More US workers are killed by falls from elevated platforms and other heights than any other type of workplace accident, according to an official from the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
Jordan Barab, US Deputy Assistant Labor Secretary for OSHA, reported during last month’s International Powered Access Federation conference that 574 US workers were killed in fatal falls in 2013, up from 281 in 2012 and only 255 in 2011.
Falls from height remain the leading cause of occupational fatalities in the US and many other countries. Preliminary data for 2013 show 284 fatal falls in construction and 88 in residential.
But Barab commended the powered access industry for its commitment to providing safe equipment for work at height, and also praised the IPAF for providing training in multiple languages, including Spanish and Chinese, so that more workers can understand the dangers and be aware of work rules and safety procedures.
Barab told the group that safety is not a luxury, but a necessity that every worker deserves.
Causes of Fatal Workplace Accidents
Other leading causes of workplace deaths included:
- Workers struck by vehicles and other objects, which killed 82 workers in 2013, compared to 79 in 2012 and 73 in 2011.
- Electrocution, which killed 71 workers in 2013, compared to 66 in 2012 and 69 in 2011.
- Caught in or between objects or vehicles, which killed 21 workers in 2013, compared to 13 in 2012 nd 18 in 2011.
Barab reported that more than 4,000 US workers die as a result of workplace injuries every year, and as many as 50,000 more die from illnesses in which workplace exposures were a contributing factor.
And there were another 3 million workplace accidents which resulted in non-fatal injuries to workers, according to Barab, who spoke at the conference held March 26 in Washington, DC.
Most Dangerous Industries
The most dangerous industry is construction, which saw 806 fatal accidents in 2012 or 9.9 deaths per 100,000 workers. But agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting sector had the highest fatal work injury rate — 22.8 per 100,000 workers — even though it had fewer total deaths, 509.
Other dangerous professions included:
- Transportation and warehousing, which saw 741 deaths or 14.6 per 100,000 workers.
- Government, which saw 453 deaths or 2.0 per 100,000 workers.
- Professional and business services, which saw 409 deaths or 2.7 per 100,000 workers.
- Manufacturing, which saw 327 deaths or 2.2 per 100,000 workers.
- Retail trade, which saw 273 deaths or 1.9 per 100,000 workers.
- Leisure and hospitality, which saw 232 deaths or 2.2 per 100,000 workers.
- Wholesale trade, which saw 204 deaths or 5.4 per 100,000 workers.
- Other services, which included such things as public administration, which saw 199 deaths or 2.7 per 100,000 workers.
- Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction, which saw 181 deaths or 15.9 per 100,000 workers.
- Educational health services, which saw 141 deaths or 0.7 per 100,000 workers.
Relatively safe industries included financial activities, which saw only 85 deaths or 0.9 per 100,000 workers; information, which saw 42 deaths, or 1.5 per 100,000 workers, and utilities, which saw 23 deaths, or 2.5 per 100,000 workers.
The next IPAF Summit will be held March 17, 2016, in Madrid, Spain.