title: Fatal falls in the U.S. residential construction industry.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Falls from heights remain the most common cause of workplace fatalities among residential construction workers in the United States.
  
  
  METHODS
  This paper examines patterns and trends of fall fatalities in U.S. residential construction between 2003 and 2010 by analyzing two large national datasets.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Almost half of the fatalities in residential construction were from falls. In the residential roofing industry, 80% of fatalities were from falls. In addition, about one-third of fatal falls in residential construction were among self-employed workers. Workers who were older than 55 years, were Hispanic foreign-born, or employed in small establishments (1-10 employees) also had higher proportions of fatal falls in residential construction compared to those in nonresidential construction.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The findings suggest that fall safety within the residential construction industry lags behind commercial construction and industrial settings. Fall prevention in residential construction should be enhanced to better protect construction workers in this sector.
authors.affiliation: CPWR-The Center for Construction Research and Training, Silver Spring, Maryland.
authors.forename: Xiuwen Sue
authors.initials: XS
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.forename: Xuanwen
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Julie A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Largay
authors.forename: James W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Platner
authors.forename: Erich
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Stafford
authors.forename: Chris Trahan
authors.initials: CT
authors.lastname: Cain
authors.forename: Sang D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Choi
mesh_terms: D000058:Accidental Falls / Q000401:mortality*; D000062:Accidents, Occupational / Q000401:mortality*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D060389:Construction Industry; D016208:Databases, Factual; D004651:Employment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006798:Housing; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D060051:Occupational Injuries / Q000401:mortality*; D058012:Small Business / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014481:United States; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Hispanic; fall prevention; foreign-born; self-employed; small establishment