Analysis of Text From Injury Reports Improves Understanding of Construction Falls

Objective: We combined payroll data, coded workers' compensation (WC) data, and text descriptions of injuries from the construction of Denver International Airport to create a more comprehensive picture of falls from height (FFH) than is typically available from WC data. Text descriptions were...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of occupational and environmental medicine 2004-11, Vol.46 (11), p.1166-1173
Main Authors: Lipscomb, Hester J., Glazner, Judith, Bondy, Jessica, Lezotte, Dennis, Guarini, Kenneth
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Accidental Falls - statistics & numerical data
Accidents, Occupational - statistics & numerical data
Aircraft
Biological and medical sciences
Colorado - epidemiology
Construction accidents & safety
Data analysis
Facility Design and Construction
Falls
Humans
Medical sciences
Miscellaneous
Occupational health
Occupational medicine
ORIGINAL ARTICLES
Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine
Risk Factors
Workers compensation
Workers' Compensation - economics
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Objective: We combined payroll data, coded workers' compensation (WC) data, and text descriptions of injuries from the construction of Denver International Airport to create a more comprehensive picture of falls from height (FFH) than is typically available from WC data. Text descriptions were coded to identify circumstances surrounding falls. Slips/trips preceded one third of FFH, often involving motor vehicles or heavy equipment. Another third involved movement or collapse of work surfaces, usually ladders or scaffolds. Conclusions: The significant contribution of motor vehicles and heavy equipment to FFH, particularly those preceded by slips/trips, was not apparent from coded data. Heavy equipment engineering modifications are called for and workers in street/roadway construction/site development need fall protection training. Text analyses allow exploration of factors not identified at the time of data collection and better understanding of the context in which injuries occur.
ISSN:1076-2752
1536-5948
DOI:10.1097/01.jom.0000141769.48553.1b