When it comes to workplace injuries and deaths, only motor vehicle accidents exceed slips, trips and falls. Slips, trips and falls account for about 15 percent of all accidental workplace deaths, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) reports. They also account for a relatively high percentage of workplace injuries that require medical treatment, time off work, and potential restrictions or changes in job duties.
Slips, trips and falls typically occur due to poor work conditions, and often arise from worker error. If a work floor or other surface is slippery or otherwise unstable, it poses a particularly high risk of injury and potential death. Those injuries and deaths come at a high cost, and usually occur in one of two ways.
The National Safety Council in 2013 reported falls from the same level inflicted $7.94 billion in costs to job providers. The council also reports falls to a lower level caused $5.35 billion in costs for job providers. Those two types of falls were the second- and third-leading causes of disabling workplace injuries in 2011, the National Safety Council reports.
Same-level falls occur nearly two-thirds of the time when workers suffer injuries due to slips, trips and falls. The mishaps injure more than a million U.S. workers every year, with most of those injuries occurring in wholesale and retail, and services jobs. Those jobs accounted for 60 percent of workplace injuries involving slips, trips and falls.
While same-level falls injure the most workers each year, falls from a higher level to a lower one tend to result in much more severe injuries and medical costs. More than 60 percent of falls to a lower level occur from heights that are less than 10 feet. Yet, between 20 and 30 percent of people suffering any kind of workplace fall experience potentially severe injuries, including fractured hips, head injuries and severe bruising.
