Falling (accident)

For other uses, see Falling (disambiguation).

Falling is a major cause of personal injury, especially for the elderly. Builders, electricians, miners, and painters represent worker categories representing high rates of fall injuries. The WHO estimate (2002) that 392,000 people die in falls every year.^{[citation needed]}

Falls in the workplace

At-risk workers without appropriate safety equipment

Falls from elevation hazards are present at most every jobsite, and many workers are exposed to these hazards daily. As such, falls are an important topic for occupational safety and health services. Any walking/working surface could be a potential fall hazard. An unprotected side or edge which is 6 feet or more above a lower level should be protected from falling by the use of a guard rail system, safety net system, or personal fall arrest system. These hazardous exposures exist in many forms, and can be as seemingly innocuous as changing a light bulb from a step ladder to something as high-risk as installing bolts on high steel at 200 feet in the air. Falls are the second leading cause of work-related deaths in the U.S. In 2000, 717 workers died of injuries caused by falls from ladders, scaffolds, buildings, or other elevations.

Companies must make sure that they follow the applicable safety legislation (e.g. the Occupational Safety and Health Act in the United States) in order to keep the work environment safe.

Falls from buildings on purpose

Falls from buildings are often accidental but can also be caused intentionally, such as by defenestration. Injuries resulting in falls from buildings vary depending on the building's height and also depends on the type of person (infant, child, adult, elderly, etc.) Falls from the second floor (American; first floor European) usually result in injuries, but are not fatal.

Surviving a fall from higher points requires not injuring the head or pelvis.

Height and severity

The severity of injury increases with the height of the fall, but also depends on body and surface features and the manner of body impacts on to the surface. The chance of surviving increases if landing on the surface of high deformity, such as snow or water.

Overall, the height at which 50% of children die from a fall is between four and five story heights above the ground.

Elderly

Main article: Falls in older adults

In elderly, even falls from standing position to flat ground may cause serious injuries. Stephen Lord at the University of New South Wales studied 80,000 elderly persons in Australia and found that the risk of falling increases for any who are taking multiple prescription medications and for all who are taking psychoactive drugs. This increased risk was demonstrated through the use of a variety of balance and reaction time tests. Inexplicably, the older men when matched with women of identical height, weight, and age, on average, performed measurably better in all of the balance and reaction time tests.^{[citation needed]}

See also

• Safety net
• Free fall

Epidemiology

Disability-adjusted life year for falls per 100,000 inhabitants in 2004.

  no data

  less than 40

  40–110

  110–180

  180–250

  250–320

  320–390

  390–460

  460–530

  530–600

  600–670

  670–1000

  more than 1000

External links

• Falls Among Older Adults: Brochures and Posters (in English, Spanish, and Chinese) US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Falls Among Older Adults: An Overview US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Costs of Falls Among Older Adults US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Hip Fractures Among Older Adults US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Falls in Nursing Homes US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• CDC Fall Prevention Activities US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Preventing Falls: What Works―A CDC Compendium of Effective Community-based Interventions from Around the World US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Preventing Falls: How to Develop Community-based Fall Prevention Programs for Older Adults US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Public Health Grand Rounds: Help Older Adults Live Better, Longer: Prevent Falls and Traumatic Brain Injuries US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• CDC’s Division of Unintentional Injury – Podcasts US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention