While a single workplace fall is one too many, the devastating reality of 1,056 fatal falls in 2022 alone proves that ignoring proper fall protection is a gamble no worker or employer can afford to lose.
Key Takeaways
- In 2022, falls accounted for 1,056 worker fatalities in the private industry, representing 33.5% of all fatal work injuries
- From 2011-2022, falls were the second leading cause of unintentional injury death across all ages, with 46,653 fatalities in 2022 alone
- Construction falls caused 399 deaths in 2022, comprising 37.8% of construction fatalities
- Nonfatal falls in construction totaled 48,702 cases in 2022 with days away from work
- In 2022, falls to lower level caused 133,600 nonfatal injuries requiring days away
- Construction fall injuries averaged 34.7 per 10,000 full-time workers in 2022
- Falls cost U.S. employers $70 billion annually in direct and indirect costs as of 2021 data
- Average cost per fall fatality in construction was $1.2 million in 2020
- Nonfatal construction fall injuries cost $2.5 billion in workers' compensation in 2022
- Only 28% of construction firms fully comply with OSHA fall protection standards
- 75% of fall-related deaths occur where fall protection was required but not used
- In 2022 OSHA inspections, 62% of construction violations were fall protection related
- Fall protection systems reduce fatality risk by 81% when properly used
- Guardrails prevent 85% of falls from unprotected edges over 6 feet
- Proper ladder setup reduces fall risk by 70% per NIOSH studies
Fall protection remains critical as workplace falls cause over a thousand fatalities annually.
Compliance Rates
- Only 28% of construction firms fully comply with OSHA fall protection standards
- 75% of fall-related deaths occur where fall protection was required but not used
- In 2022 OSHA inspections, 62% of construction violations were fall protection related
- Harness usage compliance is only 40% among roofers per 2021 survey
- 90% of scaffolding accidents result from non-compliance with fall protection regs
- Ladder safety compliance rates hover at 55% in small construction firms 2022
- Only 16% of residential construction sites use guardrails as primary protection
- OSHA cited 6,283 fall protection violations in FY2022, highest category
- 70% of employers fail to provide fall protection training per BLS 2022 data
- Compliance with hole cover standards is below 50% in steel erection sites
- Warning line compliance around roof edges is 35% in commercial roofing
- Personal fall arrest systems inspected properly only 48% of time per audit
- 85% of fall violations occur in states without OSHA-approved plans
- Fall protection training reaches only 29.5% of at-risk construction workers
- 42% of small businesses report fall protection non-compliance due to cost
- Guardrail installation compliance is 67% on multi-story sites per 2022 audit
- 55% of roofers use PFAS only when mandated, per NRCA survey 2021
- Fall protection plans documented on only 38% of sites requiring them
- Retractable device annual inspections compliance at 52%
- 68% of violations from improper anchor points in PFAS setups
- State plan states have 20% higher fall compliance than federal OSHA states
- Safety monitors trained properly on 45% of low-slope roof jobs
- Controlled access zones used correctly in 29% of leading edge work
- 76% of scaffold erectors lack fall protection during assembly
- Rescue plans for suspended workers exist on 33% of high-risk sites
- Positioning devices used in 61% of welding at heights tasks compliantly
Compliance Rates Interpretation
Our statistics reveal a terrifying reality in which construction safety is largely performative, with firms gambling on compliance more often than implementing it and workers' lives depending on a coin toss.
Economic Costs
- Falls cost U.S. employers $70 billion annually in direct and indirect costs as of 2021 data
- Average cost per fall fatality in construction was $1.2 million in 2020
- Nonfatal construction fall injuries cost $2.5 billion in workers' compensation in 2022
- Fall-related medical costs for older adults exceeded $50 billion in 2021
- Direct costs of workplace falls totaled $11.7 billion in 2021 per NSC estimates
- Construction firms lose $4.5 billion yearly from fall downtime and productivity loss
- Average workers' comp claim for fall injury was $41,857 in 2022
- Falls represent 15% of all workers' compensation costs in private industry
- Lifetime medical and lost productivity costs per nonfatal fall injury average $30,000-$150,000
- Small businesses (<20 employees) bear 85% higher fall injury costs per claim
- Fall fatalities cost society $171 billion annually including lost wages and benefits
- Roofing contractors average $1.8 million per fall fatality in insurance premiums rise
- Healthcare fall injuries cost Medicare $31 billion yearly as of 2022
- Indirect costs of falls multiply direct costs by 4.41 times per Liberty Mutual study 2021
- Construction fall claims rose 12% in cost from 2020-2022 due to inflation
- Total economic burden of falls among older adults was $75 billion in 2022
- Workers' comp for falls averaged $48,000 per serious injury in 2023 estimates
- Fall prevention ROI is 2.07:1 per dollar invested per NSC 2022
- Construction fall absenteeism costs $1.1 billion annually
- Legal costs from fall lawsuits average $250,000 per case in construction
- Property damage from falls adds $500 million yearly to industry costs
- Fall claims frequency up 7% in 2022, driving premium hikes of 9.5%
- Lifetime earnings loss per fall death averages $900,000
- Small construction firms pay 2x higher per-claim fall costs than large ones
- Fall-related disability benefits cost $9 billion in 2021
- OSHA fines for fall violations averaged $15,625 per serious instance in 2022
Economic Costs Interpretation
Despite the overwhelming evidence that gravity is undefeated, we collectively treat fall prevention like a subscription service we forgot to cancel, paying an astronomically preventable invoice year after year.
Fall Fatalities
- In 2022, falls accounted for 1,056 worker fatalities in the private industry, representing 33.5% of all fatal work injuries
- From 2011-2022, falls were the second leading cause of unintentional injury death across all ages, with 46,653 fatalities in 2022 alone
- Construction falls caused 399 deaths in 2022, comprising 37.8% of construction fatalities
- In 2021, 695 workers died from falls to a lower level, a 10.7% increase from 627 in 2020
- Roof falls resulted in 109 fatalities in construction in 2022, up 41.3% from 77 in 2021
- Ladder falls caused 81 construction deaths in 2022, accounting for 20% of fall-related fatalities in the sector
- Scaffolding falls led to 59 worker deaths in 2022, with 70% occurring from heights over 10 feet
- In agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting, falls caused 107 deaths in 2022, 24.5% of sector fatalities
- Transportation and warehousing saw 162 fall fatalities in 2022, a 15% rise from prior year
- From 2016-2022, falls from roofs in residential construction averaged 48 deaths annually
- Hispanic or Latino workers had 474 fall deaths in 2022, 42% of total fall fatalities despite being 19% of workforce
- Workers aged 45-54 experienced 292 fall deaths in 2022, the highest age group
- In 2022, 38% of fall fatalities occurred in establishments with fewer than 11 employees
- Falls through skylights caused 15 deaths in 2022, often due to missing covers
- Stepladders were involved in 27% of ladder fall fatalities from 2011-2018
- In 2020-2022 average, falls caused 891 annual private industry deaths
- Mining industry fall fatalities reached 19 in 2022, up from 12 in 2021
- Electrical power generation falls killed 12 workers in 2022
- From 2003-2022, over 10,000 construction workers died from falls, averaging 500 per year
- In 2022, falls to lower levels were involved in 47.1% of fatal falls in private construction
- From 2011 to 2019, 70.5% of construction fall fatalities involved workers over 35 years old
- Falls through existing floor/roof openings caused 12 construction deaths in 2022
- In 2022, 110 fall fatalities occurred in the South Census region, highest regionally
- Pile transfer station falls killed 5 dock workers in 2022
- Average height of fatal construction falls was 32 feet per CPWR analysis 2016-2022
- 42% of fall fatalities in construction lacked any fall protection present
- Ironworkers had 25 fall deaths in 2022, rate of 22.4 per 100,000 workers
- Operating engineers fall deaths totaled 18 in 2022 from equipment
Fall Fatalities Interpretation
The statistics paint a grim and climbing picture: despite being one of the most preventable workplace tragedies, falls persistently claim lives across every sector, age, and height, revealing a fatal gap between the known necessity of protection and its universal, vigilant application.
Fall Injuries
- Nonfatal falls in construction totaled 48,702 cases in 2022 with days away from work
- In 2022, falls to lower level caused 133,600 nonfatal injuries requiring days away
- Construction fall injuries averaged 34.7 per 10,000 full-time workers in 2022
- Same-level falls accounted for 65% of nonfatal fall injuries in private industry in 2022
- Ladder-related injuries numbered 20,800 with days away in 2022, mostly slips or falls from height
- Scaffolding injuries caused 4,500 nonfatal cases in construction annually 2018-2022 average
- Roofers experienced 125.6 fall injury rate per 10,000 workers in 2022, highest occupation
- 27% of construction fall injuries involved workers aged 35-44 in 2022
- Falls on stairs caused 24,040 nonfatal injuries in 2022
- In healthcare, falls caused 38,110 injuries with days away in 2022
- Manufacturing fall injuries totaled 29,400 cases in 2022, 18% from lower levels
- Fall injuries in private industry rose 5.7% to 240,500 cases in 2022
- 41,200 fall injuries occurred in transportation/warehousing with days away 2022
- Nursing assistants suffered 12,670 fall injuries in 2022, highest occupation
- From stairs/ steps falls caused 28% of same-level injuries in retail 2022
- Construction fall injury incidence rate was 3.0 per 100 FTE in 2022
- 15% of fall injuries required over 31 days away from work in 2022 average
- Women accounted for 32% of nonfatal fall injuries despite 47% workforce share
- Ice/snow contributed to 8,900 same-level fall injuries in winter 2022
- Forklift-related falls injured 1,200 workers in 2022
- Fall injury median days away increased to 11 days in 2022 from 8 in 2019
Fall Injuries Interpretation
This avalanche of statistics confirms that gravity is a notoriously strict and unyielding boss, whose memos arrive abruptly and without a safety net.
Prevention Measures
- Fall protection systems reduce fatality risk by 81% when properly used
- Guardrails prevent 85% of falls from unprotected edges over 6 feet
- Proper ladder setup reduces fall risk by 70% per NIOSH studies
- PFAS with shock-absorbing lanyards limit fall arrest forces to under 1,800 lbs
- Training programs cut fall injury rates by 52% in construction firms
- Roof bracket systems reduce residential roofing falls by 65%
- Warning lines combined with monitoring prevent 78% of roof perimeter falls
- Self-retracting lifelines shorten free fall distance to 2 feet, reducing injury severity by 90%
- Hole covers rated for 2x intended load prevent 95% of skylight/skydeck falls
- Annual fall hazard inspections reduce incidents by 40%
- Harness fit training improves usage compliance by 60%
- Net systems catch 99% of falls under 15 feet with proper installation
- Slips/trips elimination programs lower same-level falls by 55%
- Drone inspections for fall hazards cut access-related falls by 72%
- Bilingual training boosts Hispanic worker fall prevention by 45%
- Comprehensive fall prevention programs reduce injuries by 26-82%
- Toeboards on scaffolds prevent 92% of tool/material drop falls
- Three-point contact ladder rule cuts falls by 78%
- Horizontal lifelines with deflection limits reduce swing falls by 88%
- Housekeeping programs eliminate 62% of same-level trip hazards
- Wearable fall detection tech alerts within 1 second, improving rescue by 50%
- Pre-task hazard analysis reduces falls by 37% per site audits
- Engineered platforms outperform improvised ones by 95% in stability
- Annual retraining maintains 75% compliance in fall protection usage
- Collective bargaining for safety gear boosts protection use by 55%
Prevention Measures Interpretation
You can’t outrun gravity, but it turns out you can outsmart it with the right gear, training, and planning, as these statistics overwhelmingly prove that falls aren't random acts of fate but preventable failures of preparation.
Sources & References
- Reference 1BLSbls.govVisit source
- Reference 2CDCcdc.govVisit source
- Reference 3OSHAosha.govVisit source
- Reference 4CPWRcpwr.comVisit source
- Reference 5NSCnsc.orgVisit source
- Reference 6INJURYFACTSinjuryfacts.nsc.orgVisit source
- Reference 7ARLWEBarlweb.msha.govVisit source
- Reference 8SBAsba.govVisit source
- Reference 9ROOFINGCONTRACTORroofingcontractor.comVisit source
- Reference 10LIBERTYMUTUALlibertymutual.comVisit source
- Reference 11NCCIncci.comVisit source
- Reference 12HUDUSERhuduser.govVisit source
- Reference 13CONSTRUCTIONDIVEconstructiondive.comVisit source
- Reference 14SSAssa.govVisit source
- Reference 15NSBAnsba.bizVisit source
- Reference 16NRCAnrca.netVisit source
- Reference 17AWSaws.orgVisit source
- Reference 18ANSIansi.orgVisit source