Twenty years of workers' compensation costs due to falls from height among union carpenters, Washington state.
BACKGROUND
Falls from height (FFH) are a longstanding, serious problem in construction.


METHODS
We report workers' compensation (WC) payments associated with FFH among a cohort (n = 24,830; 1989-2008) of carpenters. Mean/median payments, cost rates, and adjusted rate ratios based on hours worked were calculated using negative-binomial regression.


RESULTS
Over the 20-year period FFH accounted for $66.6 million in WC payments or $700 per year for each full-time equivalent (2,000 hr of work). FFH were responsible for 5.5% of injuries but 15.1% of costs. Cost declines were observed, but not monotonically. Reductions were more pronounced for indemnity than medical care. Mean costs were 2.3 times greater among carpenters over 50 than those under 30; cost rates were only modestly higher.


CONCLUSIONS
Significant progress has been made in reducing WC payments associated with FFH in this cohort particularly through 1996; primary gains reflect reduction in frequency of falls. FFH that occur remain costly.
Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina.
Hester J
HJ
Lipscomb
Ashley L
AL
Schoenfisch
Wilfrid
W
Cameron
Kristen L
KL
Kucera
Darrin
D
Adams
Barbara A
BA
Silverstein
D000058:Accidental Falls / Q000191:economics*; D000062:Accidents, Occupational / Q000191:economics*; D000328:Adult; D015331:Cohort Studies; D060389:Construction Industry; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D005260:Female; D017048:Health Care Costs; D006801:Humans; D007341:Insurance / Q000191:economics; D007750:Labor Unions; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D060051:Occupational Injuries / Q000191:economics*; D012044:Regression Analysis; D014861:Washington; D014942:Workers' Compensation / Q000191:economics*
carpenters; cohort study; construction work; costs; falls from height; occupational injury; workers' compensation payments