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The Occupational Health & Safety Administration (OSHA) recently released its Top 10 list of safety violations for 2021. This list includes the most-cited safety issues by OSHA. I always study the list and compare it to prior years.
What do you see when you look at the annual Top 10 safety violation list? If you read the annual list, you will quickly notice the same dangerous violations seem to make the list every year. Some of the safety issues might move up-or-down a couple places. But, the same problems exist every year. And, one violation seems to take the top spot almost every single year.
What is the top safety violation year-after-year? Fall protection! In fact, fall protection has ranked number one for the last 11 straight years. In recent years, I’ve represented numerous workers who suffered disabling personal injuries in worksite falls from heights. I’ve also represented families who lost a loved one in a worksite fall. All of these tragedies had one thing in common — Management could have prevented the serious accident with a few simple safety procedures.
What is unique about the 2021 OSHA safety violation list? Respiratory violations are usually in the Top 10 on an annual basis. But, this year respiratory issues moved up to the second most-cited violation. With COVID, respiratory protection was a much more prominent issue. Keep in mind, OSHA has very limited resources. With few inspectors, the agency must focus its attention. I believe the pandemic required OSHA to focus resources on the safety of essential workers. It appears many of the respiratory violations involved the healthcare industry. Even in a pandemic involving extra safety concerns about respiratory issues and an airborne virus, fall protection violations still ranked number 1. That fact speaks volumes about the danger of falls from heights on our nation’s industrial and construction worksites.
What prevents companies from taking safety steps to protect workers? Nothing! With a few safety steps, most fatal worksite falls from heights could be prevented. The problem is known. The solutions are simple. The reason why companies refuse to act is also clear — Many companies are simply unwilling to pause production even briefly for the safety of workers.
Several years ago, I tried a serious construction site fall injury case here in Huntsville. The accident happened at a construction site on Redstone Arsenal. The construction company produced thousands of pages of documents during our case. These documents detailed daily production and all payments. The company even took the time to keep detailed weather forecast records down to the hour. Keep production moving at all costs! How many pages of documents discussed site specific safety? Exactly one! The fall that disabled my client could have easily been prevented by the company. That construction company cared so little for the safety of its people. It did nothing to prevent accidents.
In recent safety campaigns, OSHA has condensed fall protection into 3 simple steps. I’ve listed them below with some commentary from me:
How common are deadly worksite falls from heights? According to statistics, falls from heights are the number 1 cause of construction site deaths. According to some statistics, a full 42% of the deaths from 1982 through 2015 in the construction industry involved falls from heights. That’s huge. Almost half of all construction site accidental deaths occurred in falls! And, the majority of the workers killed in falls did not even have access to a fall arrest system.
According to medical experts, the chance of surviving a fall from 30 feet is extremely low. With that said, falls of even a few feet can be fatal. When not fatal, they can still cause chronic, disabling orthopedic and neurological injury. Over the years, I’ve actually had a couple clients surprisingly survive 30+ foot falls. These clients were hurt so badly they could no longer walk or function independently after their accidents. They required wheelchairs and help with activities of daily living from family members. In one case, I later inspected the Scottsboro facility where it occurred. I stood on the roof with my expert. It’s hard to imagine the distance involved!
Year-after-year, fall-related safety is the number 1 OSHA violation. Year-after-year, fall-related safety is the number 1 cause of construction site deaths. With just a few simple safety steps, this could change. Many deaths and disabling injuries could be prevented. We really have no excuse for continuing to put our working men and women at risk for serious falls.
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From its office in Huntsville, the Blackwell Law Firm helps people across Alabama. Our cases include construction site accidents and injuries. We are serious personal injury lawyers who focus on serious cases. If you have questions about a legal issue, let us know. All our consultations are free and confidential. We are happy to provide the information you may need.