A work-related fall accident can happen in virtually any workplace setting. Even in offices, which might appear to be relatively safe in comparison to construction sites, a devastating fall injury can happen. A fall might happen when an office worker is standing on a chair to replace a lightbulb, or a fall might happen when a construction worker is climbing a ladder to paint a wall. Either way, a serious and even deadly injury can result.
Construction industry workers, however, experience the most fall-related deaths. Meanwhile, workers in health services, wholesale and retail experience suffer the most nonfatal fall injuries. The most at-risk industries for fall accidents are building cleaning and maintenance, healthcare support, transportation and material moving and extraction and construction industries.
As for causes of fall accidents, those often include cluttered, slippery and unstable working or walking surfaces. Other risks that cause falls can also include holes in floors and wall openings, unprotected edges, misused fall protection gear and unsafely used ladders. When the above risks are present at a workplace, it is usually because of an employer and employees’ failure to follow industry standards and federal regulation for fall protection and prevention. Persistent failures in this regard are often the reason why a large number of falls occur at workplaces.
California workers who are hurt because they fell on the job can seek financial help to pay for their doctors’ bills and time spent away from work by filing workers’ compensation claims. Numerous workers’ compensation attorneys are available throughout the state of California to help workers file such claims in a legally appropriate manner.
