One of the top reasons for serious injuries in the workplace is when people fall. This can lead to spinal cord injuries, back injuries, neck injuries, traumatic brain injuries, broken bones and much more.
In some cases, fall protection can be used to keep workers safe, but there are also many situations in which workers are just exposed to an inherent level of danger. A fall can’t always be prevented, and it could lead to very severe injuries in just a split second. That’s why it’s important for workers to be aware of how these falls take place.
5 causes of workplace falls
To start with, here are five things that can cause falls in the workplace:
- Ladders that have been set up improperly or positioned unsafely.
- Holes in the walls or the floor, such as one would find on a construction site.
- Fall protection systems that have not been used correctly or that were not set up safely.
- Unprotected edges, where there is always an inherent fall risk.
- Workplaces that are cluttered, slippery or otherwise hazardous.
Some falls lead to minor issues that may heal in just a few days. Others, however, can lead to life-altering injuries that could result in hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical bills, and they could keep someone out of the workforce for the rest of their life.
There is a wide range of severity and every case is unique. That said, anyone who has been injured in a fall at work may be eligible to seek workers’ comp benefits, so they need to know what legal options they have and what steps to take moving forward.