Fatal Falls in Construction Caused by Employers Failing to Plan for Worker Safety

Fall hazards on American construction sites have topped the list of most-cited safety regulations as compiled by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) for the past twelve (12) years.  

The OSHA Top Ten List for 2022 reports Fall Protection – General Requirements in Safety and Health Regulations for Construction (29 CFR §1926.501) as once again being the safety regulation ignored most often by employers with Fall Protection – Training Requirements in Construction Regulations  (29 CFR §1926.503) ranking eighth (8th) this year.  Read, “OSHA’s Top 10 – Falls Again the Number 1 Hit,” written by Colin Fluxman and published by Sun News Report on September 22, 2022.

Construction falls are the cause of almost 40% of all construction worker deaths in this country. Falls are the main reason that construction workers are killed on the job.  Read, Fall Protection on the Job Remains Top OSHA Safety Violation for 12th Straight Year.

Study: Cause of Construction Worker Fatal Falls

Safety agencies and advocates for worker accident victims and their loved ones aggressively argue that most, if not all, of these construction site fall fatalities are preventable accidents. More needs to be done to increase the respect for fall safety on the construction sites of Indiana, Illinois, and the rest of the nation.  

Recently, a new report was published by the Center for Construction Research and Training (“CPWR”) that delves into the reasons why so many workers in the construction industry perish from fall injuries on the job. Read, CPWR (2022). Study – Underlying Causes of Falls from Heights. [Online]. (“CPWR Study”).

This was a research endeavor performed by CPWR together with (1) the American National Standards Institute (ANSI)/American Society of Safety Professionals (ASSP); (2) Z359 National Work at Heights Task Force; (3) the National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA); (4) Construction Sector Council Falls Workgroup; (5) the National Campaign to Prevent Falls in Construction; and (6) the National Safety Stand-Down.

Lack of Employer Planning Is the “Key Underlying Cause of Falls”

The researchers surveyed individuals who have “experienced, witnessed, or investigated” a workplace fall. The Study details the results of this survey, with its key findings including (emphasis added):

• Respondents believe that lack of adequate planning is a key underlying cause of falls. 
• Insufficient or ineffective planning was the most selected primary cause for falls (27.4%).
• Lack of planning is associated with a lower likelihood of using fall protection. The odds of using fall protection were 71% lower for individuals whose employer or competent person did not do any planning compared to those whose employer or competent person did do planning or they were not sure.
• Nearly half (48.8%) of respondents said that no fall protection was being used at the time of the fall.
• Employee beliefs about their company’s fall protection policy are strongly associated with the use of fall protection. 
• Respondents who believed fall protection was required by their employer were 8 times more likely to use fall protection compared to those who did not believe fall protection was required. 
• Rescue training may help reduce fall-related deaths. The odds of a fall being fatal were 76% lower for those who had self-rescue training compared to those who did not have this training.
• Workers employed by subcontractors face an elevated risk of dying from falls. 
• Individuals who worked for a subcontractor at the time of the fall incident were 2.7 times more likely to die from the fall compared to those who worked for a general contractor.

CPWR Study, page 1.

In its conclusion, CPWR points to the “root cause” of construction site falls as the “lack of adequate fall protection planning.” It suggests that more research is needed to determine how to “encourage and support fall protection planning.” Methods include a focus on the design of not only the workflow on the job site, but the site itself, and the project’s design (e.g., plans and specs for the building itself).  

The study identifies the elephant in the room, well known to those advocating for construction worker fall accident victims: “research on how to get more employers to provide and use fall protection, particularly smaller companies, is needed.”  CPWR Study, page 13.

Designing a Fall Protection System for a Construction Site: ASSP Recommendations

So, how difficult is it for the powers-that-be in the construction industry to form, adopt, and implement fall safety plans? Not only are there defined safety standards in the OSHA fall safety regulations, but there are also easily accessed construction fall protection system plans created by the American Society of Safety Professionals (ASSP).  

Who is the ASSP? It describes itself as a “global association for occupational safety and health professionals,” established in 1911 to protect against worker injuries and deaths by helping employers meet their duties of safety and care in the workplace. In an article published on August 22, 2019, the ASSP explains the “4 Steps of Designing an Effective Fall Protection System.”

From an industrial safety perspective, these four fall protection safety steps are:

1. Building an individual fall protection system that is unique to the needs of the workers on the particular worksite (“design with the worker in mind”).
2. Testing all tools, equipment, and machinery that will be a part of the construction site’s fall protection system. This includes Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for the workers. It also involves equipment, tools, and machinery that help to protect the workers from falling (“test your equipment”).
3. Creating and implementing an ongoing training program for workers on fall protection as it applies to their particular workspace. This includes not only how to use their PPE, but on how to know when they are facing danger on the site as well as the need to inspect all tools and equipment before use on the job as detailed in the ANSI/ASSP Z359.2 standard (“train your workers”).
4. Inspecting the construction site for fall dangers including routine inspection of all equipment on the site for repair, maintenance, or replacement needs before any worker is asked to use something that is not safe for use (“inspect your equipment”).  

Fatal Construction Worker Falls in Indiana and Illinois

Construction workers have the most dangerous job in the State of Indiana and those employed on Illinois construction sites also face a tremendously high risk for serious work injuries daily. Read, What Is The Most Dangerous Job in Indiana and Illinois?.

To have fall construction safety regulations reign as the most often disrespected safety standard for over a decade while fall accidents remain the top reason for construction workers dying in the country is outrageously unacceptable.  

Now, a recent study confirms it is the failure of employers to take the time and the money to provide construction workers with proper site safety planning that causes the most fatal falls in this country: “insufficient or ineffective planning” is identified as the “primary cause for falls.”  

Construction workers and their loved ones must be aware that they cannot depend upon their supervisors, or others in possession, custody, or control of aspects of the construction site, to keep them safe from serious harm on the job in a construction fall. Employers in the construction industry are simply failing to do what is known to be needed to protect their workers against fall injuries.  

There are state and federal laws that can provide avenues for justice to those who suffer a serious or fatal fall injury while working in construction in Indiana and Illinois. Not only workers’ compensation but personal injury claims may be available to them for monetary damages that can include medical expenses, rehabilitation costs, lost wages, pain and suffering, and more.

For more, read: 

• Who Faces the Greatest Risk of Dying from a Construction Site Fall?
• Multiple Employers on the Construction Site: Who Is Liable For Construction Worker Accidents?
• Construction Fall Accidents:  Employer’s Duties to Provide Fall Protection for Construction Workers
• Deadly Construction Fall Accidents: Duty to Provide Fall Safety Equipment Protections for Construction Workers
• Construction Fall Accidents in Indiana or Illinois: Great Danger of Fatal Injury in a Fall on the Job.

Construction site falls are a great danger to all construction workers in Indiana and Illinois.  Employers are not doing enough to keep people safe. Please be careful out there!