title: [«All of a sudden…» preventability and priorities of construction fatalities: an experience in Piedmont].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine the usefulness for prevention of the National Surveillance System on occupational fatalities, which is based on the narrative description of the work accident collected by OSH inspectors and on the subsequent classification of the injury dynamics by means of a standardized model of analysis.
  
  
  METHODS
  The system ability of providing useful recommendations for prevention was evaluated on one hand by analyzing the effectiveness of inspections in preventing fatalities, on the other hand by identifying the most frequent accident mechanisms. Data analyzed consisted of investigation reports of construction fatalities occurred during 2002-2008 in the Piedmont Region, collected by surveillance system. The injury narrative description was used to assess whether the fatality would have been preventable by an inspection hypothetically conducted the day before the event; injuries were classified as probably preventable, probably not preventable, and uncertain. A standardized model of classification of injury dynamics was employed to identify mechanisms and circumstances related to the construction fatalities, and particularly those caused by falls from height.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Among 122 construction fatalities occurred, 25%were considered probably preventable and 60%probably not preventable. Half of the construction fatalities was caused by fall from height, most of which were caused by sudden breaking of a surface walkway, and almost 20% by fall of objects, including burial.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The analysis of the preventability of construction fatalities in Piedmont seems partly to rebut the assumption that more inspections are necessarily associated with a reduction in fatalities. The interpretation of the injury narrative descriptions, which are implemented by OHS inspectors as part of their usual activity, through a standardized model of analysis allows to identify the breaking of surface walkways as the most important mechanism of fatality among falls from height.
authors.affiliation: Struttura Complessa a Direzione Universitaria, Scuola Sanità Pubblica, Azienda Sanitaria Locale TO3, Pinerolo, Torino. osvaldo.pasqualini@epi.piemonte.it
authors.forename: Osvaldo
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Pasqualini
authors.forename: Marcello
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Libener
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Farina
authors.forename: Antonella
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bena
mesh_terms: D000056:Accident Prevention; D000058:Accidental Falls / Q000401:mortality / Q000517:prevention & control; D000062:Accidents, Occupational / Q000401:mortality / Q000517:prevention & control*; D000739:Anecdotes as Topic; D060389:Construction Industry / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D012189:Retrospective Studies