Fatal Falls Overview

1. Most fatal falls to lower levels occurred in the construction industry.

• Most fatal falls to lower levels (71 fatalities, 60%) occurred in the Construction industry division, an average of 8 fatalities per year. The Service industry division had the second highest number of fatal falls to lower levels (13 fatalities).
• Within the Construction industry division, the Special Trade Contractors major industry group accounted for 81% (58 fatalities) of fatal fall injuries. Contractors engaged in roofing and sheet metal work, carpentry and floor work, structural steel erection, and masonry work led all other groups in the number of fatalities.
• The construction industry division also had a high annual average rate of fatal falls to lower levels (6.6 fatalities per 100,000 workers), more than sixteen times the overall rate for all industry divisions (0.4 fatalities per 100,000 workers).

2. Fatal falls in the construction industry division were concentrated in small establishments.

• About two-thirds of the fatal falls to lower levels in the construction industry division occurred in small establishments with 10 or fewer employees.
• OSHA does not regularly inspect establishments with fewer than 11 employees unless a fatality occurs. Therefore, they are likely to have less contact with safety inspectors than large establishments and less knowledge about safety precautions should be taken to prevent fall injuries.

3. Roofers and Carpenters had the highest number of fatal falls to lower levels.

• Construction occupations accounted for 60% of all falls to lower levels. Roofers and carpenters had the highest number of fatal falls followed by construction laborers, and structural metal workers.
• Falls to lower levels accounted for a high proportion of fatalities (52%, 71 fatalities) among construction workers, whereas only 19% of total fatal injuries in the state were due to falls to lower levels. All of the occupational fatalities among the brick and stonemasons and structural metal workers were due to falls.

4. The majority of fatal falls to lower levels in construction occurred from heights of less than 20 feet.

• Height information was available for 56 out of 71 fatal falls to lower levels in the construction industry division. Of these 56 fatal falls, 52% (29 fatalities) occurred from heights of 20 feet or less.  Eight fatal falls (14%) occurred from heights of 10 feet or lower and another 8 falls occurred from heights of over 30 feet. The heights ranged from 3 feet to 130 feet.

5. Falls to lower levels were the leading event among older workers.

• Falls to lower levels accounted for 41% (20 fatalities) of all work-related fatal injuries among workers age 65 years and older. The annual average fatal fall rate for these workers was 2.7 per 100,000, more than six times higher than the average rate for all age groups.  This rate would be even higher if hours of work were used as a denominator instead of number of workers employed because older workers are more likely to work part time.

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