| Abstract |
An analysis of job-related falls occurring in the United States compared broad occupational categories with age, sex, geographic, and month of year distributions of fall injuries and fatalities. The data base utilized was approximately 32,000 cases previously collected in a 1962-63 and more recent 1975-76 study of free-falls, of which 14,870 cases within the occupational age range of 14-75 years were analyzed. Of these, 38% (5,655) were job related and 19.5% (2,904) occurred in the home. Males showed an overall incidence of 42.9% occupationally related free-falls, compared to only 2.1% for females. General occupational-related fall trends as well as fatality and temporal comparisons between the two basic studies is provided. Craftsmen (painters, roofers, linesmen, iron and steel workers, electricians, and carpenters) were found to have the highest occupational incidence of falls. In this population, based upon free-falls (which excludes falls on the same level, down stairs, or other unimpeded falls), approximately 90% of the falls occurred to males at every age level reported from 14-75 years. Thirty-nine cases of elevator falls are included, involving 148 individuals. An analysis of the fall literature as well as an extensive bibliography is provided. |
