Working from height carries a real and ever-present significant risk. One of the biggest risks is falling from height which can cause serious fall injuries and in the worst instances, a fatal fall is possible. Unintentional injuries and accidental deaths are, terrifyingly, more common than they ought to be. There are, however, things you can do to decrease these risks. Installing fall protection systems, fall arrest systems and edge protection are all examples of measures you can take to greatly reduce the risk of falls happening in the first place, and when falls occur, reduce the injuries sustained.
At Altus Safety we’re height safety experts, experienced and well-versed in a range of height safety systems to prevent falls and reduce the consequences of falls and workplace accidents. We design, install, and maintain a full range of systems across the working at height and construction industry to protect your workers and contractors who are completing tasks at height on your behalf.
Below we’ll take a look at some of the most common fall from height injuries workers are at risk of before providing you with advice about how to prevent those injuries with height safety solutions.
What Is A Fall From Height?
A fall from height is any fall that occurs when an individual falls from a height likely to cause personal injury. This is usually a floor above ground level, or a fall into an opening or gap if you’re already on ground level. In this context, we’re talking about a workplace injury specifically, e.g. construction sites or shopping centres, etc.
It’s difficult to pinpoint exactly what height is considered working at height, but if the fall is likely to cause personal injury then it’s safe to assume your workers are working at height and the proper protection ought to be put in place to prevent this from happening.
Before we look at preventative measures, however, let’s look at some of the most common fall from height injuries.
Common Fall From Height Injuries
Although almost any injury can occur following a fall from height, there are some more common ones than others, ranging from relatively mild to incredibly severe. Factors such as the height a person fell from, the way they fell, and how they landed will influence the injury. Remember falls don’t discriminate across age groups, gender, or otherwise here: everybody working at height is at risk from working at height accidents when working at height. Safety is paramount to prevent both fatal and non fatal falls.
Bruises & Sprains
Of all fall from height injuries, bruises and sprains are probably the most common and least severe, which is reassuring for workers. Whilst minor, however, bruises and sprains can still cause discomfort for workers.
These injuries are most common following a fall from a smaller height, such as a few rungs up a ladder, but can still be serious enough to warrant time off work and a meeting with any occupational health services you may offer, especially if the individual sprains or seriously bruises their ankle or knee, making movement difficult and working at height impossible.
Fractures
Fractures and breaks are also common injuries when falling from height. They’re nasty to deal with and can take a fair amount of time to recover from. If you’re responsible for the safety of individuals working at height, you’ll want to eradicate the risk of fractures to avoid missed time on projects and to protect your workers from the pain and discomfort of a fracture.
Below we’ll look closer at some of the more common fractures workers falling from height could face.
Calcaneal Fractures
Calcaneal fractures are very common when falling from height, as it’s commonly referred to as a break of the heel bone. They’re common when falling from a greater height, and usually happen when an individual falls and lands on their feet.
Failing to address this fracture quickly can lead to long term disability, so fast treatment is a must. It’ll typically take 3-4 months before a person can return to their normal activities.
Pilon Fractures
A pilon fracture is essentially a break that occurs where the shin and ankle bones meet, meaning weight-bearing after a break is nigh-impossible, causing immense pain and discomfort. Again, they’re common when falling from a tall height.
Surgery is required to fix a pilon fracture and it’ll be 3-6 months before an individual is feeling somewhat comfortable, but for some 12 months is a realistic recovery time. Pilon fractures are considered very serious and are common in fall from heights and vehicle collisions.
Tibial Plateau Fractures
If a pilon fracture is where the shin and ankle meet, then a tibial plateau is up the other end – where the shin and knee meet. This sort of break is incredibly serious and commonly prevents an individual from being able to move their knee at all.
Again, this is a serious injury often seen when an individual falls from a significant height and could take 4-6 months to fully heal.
Femur Fractures
Your femur bone is the long bone in your leg connecting your knee and hips. Whilst not the most common fracture, they’re more often than not caused by a great fall from height. Injuries of this nature are considered severe.
Walking and standing after this injury will be difficult but with the right support and treatment in place, an individual will be able to recover fully 3-6 months depending on the type and severity of the break.
Vertebral Compression Fractures
This is perhaps the most severe of the fractures in terms of long term effects as a fracture of this kind can lead to a loss of height. These injuries occur when the vertebral body in the spine collapses following a fall from height injury.
Despite the severity, injuries of this kind should start to heal in around 3 months, however.
Head & Spinal Injuries
Head injuries and spinal injuries are some of the more severe injuries caused by an individual falling from height and can be life threatening. In the most extreme cases, a return to work may not ever be possible due to disability, immobility, or consistent pain and discomfort. A fatal injury is possible here too, due to the nature of the fall and injuries sustained.
Fatalities
The Health and Safety Executive themselves pointed out that there were 50 workers killed in the workplace after falling from a height in a 12 month period across 2023/24.
Although not common, they’re still the leading cause of death in the workplace considering there were 138 total deaths in the same period – fall from height fatalities accounted for over 35% of all deaths. For a height safety company like ours, that’s a terrifying statistic and highlights the worst that can happen when things go wrong.
More widely, studies in 2010 have found that occupational risk factors are associated with 8.8% of the global burden of mortality due to accidents. That means death in the workplace across the world is a major cause of accidental deaths. Those occupational risk factors could be eliminated with the proper systems and safety precautions in place.
It’s statistics like these that motivate our team everyday to do all we can to reduce falls from height altogether and stop all injuries and fatalities as a result. Below we’ll cover some of the solutions we offer at Altus Safety to prevent fall from height injuries.
How To Prevent Fall From Height Injuries
Now that we’ve covered the injuries that are common when falling from a height at work, let’s take a look at some of the best ways to prevent the falls and injuries from happening in the first place. These systems will be put in place following a thorough risk assessment to find the best solution for you.
Fall Protection
Fall protection is a catch-all term that encompasses a range of systems and devices designed to stop a person from falling when working at height. Some of the systems we install at Altus Safety include:
Eyebolts and anchor points are secure attachment points that an individual can use when operating a fall arrest system to protect themselves from falling. Skylight protection is installed, like a cage, over fragile roof surfaces such as skylights which pose a greater risk of falls than other areas of the roof.
The aim here is to prevent falls from occurring, therefore eliminating the risk of personal injury to the worker altogether.
Fall Arrest
Fall arrest systems are essentially a backup to fall protection systems. They’re designed to stop a fall from being as serious should a fall happen in the first place. We install a range at Altus Safety, including:
- Vertical and horizontal safety line systems
- Mobile man anchors
All of the systems above essentially stop a fall as soon as it happens. The worker will be attached to the safety system via a personal harness of some kind, and when they fall, the system will stop it, catching the worker safely.
Edge Protection
Edge protection systems focus on preventing falls over the edge of a roof. We install the following:
- Fixed guardrails
- Freestanding guardrails
- Collapsible guardrails
Whichever you pick, the guardrails are designed to withstand significant forces, including the weight of multiple workers falling at once against the barrier, offering a brilliant form of collective protection for multiple workers at once.
Safe Roof Access
In addition to the systems above, we also offer a range of roof access solutions to ensure safe access for workers:
Fall From Height Injuries: Final Thoughts
Fall from height injuries can be nasty things that cause pain and discomfort to workers. It’s your job to reduce the risk of falls and injuries as much as possible to protect workers in the most effective way possible.
At Altus Safety we offer a range of fall protection, fall arrest, edge protection, and roof access solutions to ensure your workers are as safe as possible and at the least possible risk from fall from height injuries. Contact us today so we can learn how we can support you.