New Jersey workers like you understand that workplace dangers exist in any job. Some jobs pose a bigger threat than others, but there are some dangers prevalent anywhere and everywhere.
Workplace falls often end up categorized as an all-encompassing workplace danger. No matter where you work, you are likely to have fall statistics at your workplace.
Rate of fall injuries and fatalities
The National Safety Council examines the frequency of falls at the workplace. They examine 2016, in which 48,060 workers suffered a severe enough fall injury that they called out of work. They break fall statistics down by field of employment.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the most dangerous field for falls is construction. Of 24,700 injuries, construction workers faced 384 fatalities. This is higher than any other field reported. By comparison, education and health services had the lowest number of fatalities. With 43,660 injuries, 18 deaths occurred.
In an interesting turn, the industries with the lowest and highest fatality rates did not have the lowest or highest overall injury rate. Government held the highest rate of total injuries, with 63,350 sufferers in 2016. Wholesale trade had the lowest, with 10,250 victims of injury.
What contributes to the prevalence?
As you can see, even the “lowest” number of fall-related injuries in a year is still over ten thousand. This points to a serious and continuous issue with fall safety across all workplaces. Many workplace falls are preventable as well. In other words, fixing the dangers tied to falls is entirely possible. You can do so by speaking with management. Ensure they replace old or broken equipment and allow employees to receive proper safety training.