The purpose of this study was to describe antecedents and characteristics of nonfatal fall-related injuries among health care workers in the United States. A special request was made for the Bureau of Labor Statistics to obtain nonfatal fall-related injury data from 2008 to 2010. Overall, workers in the nursing-related profession had the highest percentages of workplace fall-related injuries. Ninety-one percent of these injured workers were female, and more than 50% were between the ages of 45 and 64 years. More than 25% of fall injuries resulted in 31 or more workdays being lost. This study indicated that the most affected body parts were the lower extremities, with most injuries resulting in sprains, strains, and tears. Accordingly, this 3-year study revealed that a high number of fall injuries occurred at night for health care workers compared to other workers in the U.S. private sector.
AzaroffL. S.LevensteinC.WegmanD. H. (2002). Occupational injury and illness surveillance: Conceptual filters explain underreporting. American Journal of Public Health, 92, 1421–1429.
3.
BodenL. I.OzonoffA. (2008). Capture-recapture estimates of nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses. Annals of Epidemiology, 18, 500–506.
4.
Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2009). Incidence rates for nonfatal occupational injuries and illnesses involving days away from work per 10,000 full-time workers by industry and selected events or exposures leading to injury or illness, 2008. Retrieved from www.bls.gov/iif/oshcdnew.htm
5.
Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2010). The 2010 Standard Occupational Classification System. Retrieved from www.bls.gov/soc/classification.htm
6.
Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2011). Case and demographic characteristics for work-related injuries and illnesses involving days away from work 2006–2010. Retrieved from www.bls.gov/iif/oshcdnew.htm
7.
CattledgeG.SchneidermanA.StanevitchR.HendricksS.GreenwoodJ. (1996). Nonfatal occupational fall injuries in the West Virginia construction industry. Accident; Analysis and Prevention, 28, 655–663.
8.
CharlesL. E.BurchfielC. M.FekedulegnD.VilaB.HartleyT. A.SlavenJ. (2007). Shift work and sleep: The Buffalo Police Health Study. Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, 30(2), 215–227.
9.
CherryN.ParkerG.McNameeR.WallS.ChenY.RobinsonJ. (2005). Falls and fractures in women at work. Occupational Medicine, 55, 292–297.
10.
CotnamJ. P.ChangW. R.CourtneyT. K. (2000). A retrospective study of occupational slips, trips, and falls across industries. Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, 4, 473–476.
11.
CourtneyT. K.MatzS.WebsterB. S. (2002). Disabling occupational injury in the US construction industry, 1996. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 44(12), 1161–1168.
12.
EsquirolY.BongardV.MabileL.JonnierB.SoulatJ. M.PerretB. (2009). Shift work and metabolic syndrome: Respective impacts of job strain, physical activity, and dietary rhythms. Chronobiology International, 26, 544–559.
13.
FlainP. O. (1986). Work schedules of Americans: An overview of new findings. Monthly Labor Review, 109, 3–6.
14.
HaM.ParkJ. (2005). Shiftwork and metabolic risk factors of cardiovascular disease. Journal of Occupational Health, 47, 89–95.
15.
HorwitzI. B.McCallB. (2004). The impact of shift work on the risk and severity of injuries for hospital employees: An analysis using Oregon workers' compensation data. Occupational Medicine, 54, 556–563.
16.
KemmlertK.LundholmL. (2001). Slips, trips and falls in different work groups with reference to age and from a preventive perspective. Applied Ergonomics, 32, 149–153.
17.
KuboT.OzasaK.MikamiK.WakaiK.FujinoY.WatanabeY. (2006). Prospective cohort study of the risk of prostate cancer among rotating-shift workers: Findings from the Japan collaborative cohort study. American Journal of Epidemiology, 164, 549–555.
18.
LeamonT. B.MurphyP. L. (1995). Occupational slips and falls: More than a trivial problem. Ergonomics, 38, 487–498.
19.
LincolnA. E.SorockG. S.CourtneyT. K.WellmanH. M.SmithG. S.AmorosoP. J. (2004). Using narrative text and coded data to develop hazard scenarios for occupational injury interventions. Injury Prevention, 10, 249–254.
20.
LockhartT. E.WoldstadJ. C.SmithJ. L. (2003). Effects of age-related gait changes on biomechanics of slips and falls. Ergonomics, 46(12), 1136–1160.
21.
LockhartT. E.WoldstadJ. C.SmithJ. L.RamseyJ. D. (2002). Effects of age related sensory degradation on perception of floor slipperiness and associated slip parameters. Safety Science, 40, 689–703.
22.
LombardiD. A.PannalaR.SorockG. S.WellmanH.CourtneyT. K.VermaS. (2005). Welding related occupational eye injuries: A narrative analysis. Injury Prevention, 11, 174–179.
23.
McNameeR.KemmlertK.LundholmL.CherryN. M. (1997). Injuries after falls at work in the United Kingdom and Sweden with special reference to fractures in women over 45. Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 54, 785–792.
24.
MurrayC. J. L.LopezA. D. (1996). Global and regional descriptive epidemiology of disability: Incidence, prevalence, health, expectancies, and years lived with disability. In The global burden of disease. Boston, MA: Harvard University Press.
25.
StevensJ. A.SogolowE. D. (2005). Gender differences for non-fatal unintentional fall related injuries among older adults. Injury Prevention, 11, 115–119.
26.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2010, December). Slip, trip, and fall prevention for healthcare workers (Publication no. 2011-123). Retrieved from www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2011–123/pdfs/2011–123.pdf
27.
ViolantiJ. M.BurchfielC. M.HartleyT. A.MnatsakanovaA.FekedulegnD.AndrewM. E. (2009). Atypical work hours and metabolic syndrome among police officers. Archives of Environmental and Occupational Health, 64, 194–201.
28.
YeohH. T.LockhartT. E.WuX. (2012). Non-fatal occupational falls on the same level. Ergonomics. doi:10.1080/0014013.2012.746739
29.
YoonH. Y.LockhartT. E. (2006). Nonfatal occupational injuries associated with slips and falls in the US. International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics, 36, 83–92.
