I have had two falls in the last two days. Yesterday I was moving some things, leaned too far back on the second step from the bottom and fell flat on my back. I woke this morning sore all over. Then this morning I ran into a warehouse door that was only partially raised and went down on my side with a bump on the head.
Some falls are easy to understand. On August 21, at a Michigan air show, wing walker Todd Green fell 200 feet to his death as he was trying to move from an airplane to a helicopter.
Some falls are more common than one might think. The September 2011 issue of Pediatrics reports that the rate of childrens' falls from windows is down but still there were 5,000 deaths last year. And the most common injury for a welder is a fall from an elevated surface.
Falls can be on a level surface, from an elevated surface and, as I just re-discovered, on a level surface from running into an elevated surface.
Height becomes an issue only because of the severity of the potential injury or fatality from a fall.
It is not a bad idea to look at your workspace for fall potentials and fall probabilities. It might also be a good idea to look at who is in the area and find out if they are covered by your insurance in the event of a fall. Employees are one thing but I'm thinking of volunteers, family members, customers, vendors, trash collectors and others who might have a risk of a fall.
David Sneed
Some falls are easy to understand. On August 21, at a Michigan air show, wing walker Todd Green fell 200 feet to his death as he was trying to move from an airplane to a helicopter.
Some falls are more common than one might think. The September 2011 issue of Pediatrics reports that the rate of childrens' falls from windows is down but still there were 5,000 deaths last year. And the most common injury for a welder is a fall from an elevated surface.
Falls can be on a level surface, from an elevated surface and, as I just re-discovered, on a level surface from running into an elevated surface.
Height becomes an issue only because of the severity of the potential injury or fatality from a fall.
It is not a bad idea to look at your workspace for fall potentials and fall probabilities. It might also be a good idea to look at who is in the area and find out if they are covered by your insurance in the event of a fall. Employees are one thing but I'm thinking of volunteers, family members, customers, vendors, trash collectors and others who might have a risk of a fall.
David Sneed
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