Why do so many US workers fall to their deaths?

There were 5,250 fatal work injuries in the US in 2018, with falls a leading cause of death – and cuts in government oversight may lead to more

Robert Fitch had worked for the same grain milling company for 30 years when he fell from a belt-operated manlift.

His brother, who also worked for the same company, in Lincoln, Nebraska, tried to revive him but Robert was fatally injured by the 80ft fall.

Fitch’s lift did not have any fall protection when he died in January 2009, an issue his niece said was due to it being installed prior to 1971, meaning it did not need to meet more stringent design safety rules, according to an official from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (Osha) at the time. The lift, and similar lifts, were eventually replaced by the milling company with equipment that included fall protections following an OSHAinvestigation.

Thousands of Americans die at work each year

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported 5,147 workplace fatalities in the US in 2017. Among these fatalities, 887 were due to fatal falls, the highest level reported in the 26-year history of the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries.

There are two different categories for fatal falls: falls on the same level, such as slips or trips, and falls to a lower level. Both increased in 2017, with the majority, 713 fatalities, a result of workers falling to a lower level. In 2018, the latest year data is available, fatal falls decreased to 791, though overall workplace fatalities increased from the prior year to 5,250.

The US consistently outpaces other industrialized nations in workplace fatalities:

• The average rate of workplace fatalities in the United States has hovered at 3.5 deaths for every 100,000 workers over the past decade.
• In comparison, workplace fatality rates in the UK have remained under 1.0 death for every 100,000 workers over the past decade, and under 1.5 deaths for every 100,000 workers on average for the 15 earliest member states of the EU.

Transportation incidents are responsible for the highest number of deaths at work, and for more than a third of all work fatalities.

The majority of fatal workplace falls regularly occur in construction and disproportionately impact Hispanic workers, though fatal fall increases in 2017 are attributed to a wide range of industries.

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