A research team that was set up by NIOSH recently looked into the fatal falls in the United States, including those in Maryland. What they found was that 43 percent of those falls were in some way connected to the use of a ladder. This percentage was a bit lower for workers, but they still found that 20 percent of the falls that workers suffered from were from the use of ladders.
The data that the team looked at was fairly recent, having been recorded for 2011. For workers, there were 113 falls that resulted in deaths. There were also 15,500 injuries that meant that the injured workers had to take one or more days off of work. On top of that, there were 34,000 injuries that required a trip to the emergency room.
The study also produced some trends, showing that men were at more of a risk than women. Older employees were also at more of a risk than younger employees. As far as industries were concerned, some high-risk ones included construction, maintenance, installation, repair, and mining or extraction industries.
The group did offer some advice on how to avoid these types of injuries. They stated that it was a good idea for workers to look for other ways to do jobs, rather than always using ladders. They also said that, when ladders could not be avoided, they should be completely inspected from time to time. They also said that further training and instruction for workers could help.
As is shown, ladder injuries are quite common. Anyone who has been injured on the job while using a ladder should be aware of one's rights as they relate to workers' compensation.
