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There are significant risks in the construction sector, with falls from height identified a greater hazard than in most other industries. Efforts to improve working conditions and reduce accident rates have driven research into real-time monitoring technologies to reduce the risk of falls. The main objective of this research is to review existing real-time monitoring technologies, identify the most relevant, and analyse their benefits and impact on reducing workplace accidents in the construction sector. A systematic review was conducted using PRISMA methodology to investigate the use of real-time monitoring technologies in the construction industry. Only studies specifically investigating real-time fall risk assessment were included. Of the initial 446 articles reviewed, 39 were considered highly relevant to the research objectives. Various wireless and computer vision technologies were identified for real-time worker monitoring, often integrated with BIM to improve workplace safety. The findings suggest that a combination of technologies may produce more effective results for worker monitoring. However, further research is needed to verify the applicability of these technologies on construction sites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Introduction: Jumping/falling from high structures is a common form of suicide. Mostly, these suicides occur on artificial structures. However, there are also natural formations which are used for committing suicide. It was the aim of this study to investigate the use of mountains and other natural rock formations for the means of suicide. Methods: The files of the investigations of mountain deaths from 2002 to 2016 commissioned by the public prosecutor’s office of the canton of Bern, Switzerland, or carried out by the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Bern itself, were evaluated retrospectively regarding the existence of suicides within alpine environment. Results: 20 cases were analyzed concerning various parameters such as method, age, gender and mental diagnoses. A mountain suicide occurred with a ratio of 1 to 69. The gender difference was more pronounced with 80% being male victims. Discussion: Suicide is rare in the mountains. Jumping/falling from heights was the most common manner of suicide. Most of those affected were male and a significant proportion had a psychiatric diagnosis.

Abstract:Introduction: Jumping/falling from high structures is a common form of suicide. Mostly, these suicides occur on artificial structures. However, there are also natural formations which are used for committing suicide. It was the aim of this study to investigate the use of mountains and other natural rock formations for the means of suicide. Methods: The files of the investigations of mountain deaths from 2002 to 2016 commissioned by the public prosecutor's office of the canton of Bern, Switzerland, or carried out by the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Bern itself, were evaluated retrospectively regarding the existence of suicides within alpine environment. Results: 20 cases were analyzed concerning various parameters such as method, age, gender and mental diagnoses. A mountain suicide occurred with a ratio of 1 to 69. The gender difference was more pronounced with 80% being male victims. Discussion: Suicide is rare in the mountains. Jumping/falling from heights was the most common manner of suicide. Most of those affected were male and a significant proportion had a psychiatric diagnosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Facial trauma deserves prompt attention because of its enormous functional and cosmetic importance. Aim of the study was to study the causes and treatmentof patients admitted with Zygomatic fractures and to evaluate the pattern for surgicaltreatment. To highlight on the indications for closed and open reduction. Material and Methods: This is a prospective study which was done on 32 patients over a period of 20 months. Patients with isolated zygomatic fractures, both sexes and all age groups were included. Results: This study encompassed a total number of 32 patients with Zygoma fractures 30(96.15%) patients were Male and 2 (3.85%) patients were Female with Male to Female ratio of 26:1. Most common age group involved in this study was 20-30years (57.69%). Most common risk factors identified in this study was Road traffic accidents which accounted for majority of the cases (83%) followed by interpersonal violence cases (10%) and accidental falls (7%). In our study out of 32 Zygomatic bone fractures. The most prevalent fractures were on right side. In our study the commonest presenting feature is subconjuctival haemorrhage (92%) followed by circum orbital echymossis (90%), Trismus (61%), malar flattening (60%) and numbness in the infra orbital nerve distribution (5%). In our study 18 patients underwent closed reduction by Gilles method and 10 patients underwent open reduction and internal fixation with miniplates and screws. 2 patients were treated with both Gilles elevation and ORIF. Zygomatic Arch fractures were 18 and Zygomatic comlex fractures were 12 Single point fixation was done in 17 patients at Zygomaticomaxillary buttress and 3 patients had 2 point fixation at ZygomaticoMaxillary and Zygomatico Frontal sutures. Single point fixation in the ZM area in Zygomatic complex fractures can avoid unsightly scars and give high satisfaction with surgical outcomes in selected patients with fracture displacement. Conclusion: It was concluded that the high frequency of Zygomatic fractures due to RTA in our population highlights the need for the strict enforcement of traffic rules and regulations. In view of the avoidable morbidity and mortality due to inadequate treatment, we advocate the establishment of regionalized, efficient, and focused trauma centers in various parts of the state particularly for acute trauma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To evaluate the factors influencing mortality in patients admitted to the emergency department due to falls from height and traffic accidents, based on injury patterns and clinical characteristics. Materials and Methods: This retrospective analysis included 2348 trauma patients who experienced traffic accidents or falls from a height. The demographic and clinical characteristics of the patients were examined. Factors affecting mortality were evaluated using statistical methods. Results: Among the traumas, 90.3% were due to traffic accidents and 9.7% to falls from a height. Patients who fell from a height were found to have a lower Glasgow Coma scale (GCS) score (p=0.002). Hospitalization and mortality rates were higher in patients who fell from heights (p=0.001 and p=0.038, respectively). Mortality was significantly higher in patients with injuries to three or more organs and in those with intracranial injuries (p=0.001 and p=0.001, respectively). Conclusion: Mortality is higher in patients who fall from height than in those who are involved in traffic accidents. Parameters directly associated with mortality include craniocerebral, multiorgan, and low GCS scores.

There is dearth of information in the literature regarding the relationship between head injuries and facial trauma in literature. Maxillofacial injuries are commonly encountered in trauma and emergency department. Usually this type of injury is a type of poly injury which requires intervention by oral and maxillofacial surgeon, Neurosurgeon, otolaryngology, plastic surgery, ophthalmology and trauma surgery. The objective of our study was to study this important relationship between facio maxillary and traumatic brain injury. This is a descriptive analytical study of trauma patients at GMC Srinagar in which the medical records of 230 patients who were referred for MF injury may or may not be associated with head and neurological injury were analyzed. We evaluated 230 patients with maxillofacial trauma and intracranial injury admitted to our hospital, between 2012 and 2017. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The construction sector is known for exposing workers to numerous potential hazards, with falls from heights being the leading cause. These fatal fall accidents not only result in human loss but also impose significant financial costs on construction projects. However, current safety planning and management is typically carried out manually using safety documents and 2D models, which are time-consuming and labor-intensive. There is also a lack of visualization for the placement of temporary safety facilities (TSFs) during construction. Meanwhile, Building Information Modeling (BIM) has the potential to be used as a comprehensive workspace planning for TSFs in a scheduling manner. Therefore, this study proposes the development of a construction safety dashboard to inform workers about fall hazards using spatial–temporal data stored in 4D BIM. The proposed approach includes four modules: (1) identification and assessment of risk from identified work activities, (2) development of 4D BIM model, (3) creation of a dashboard to share safety knowledge, and (4) validation of the dashboard through interviews with safety managers and site workers. This approach is tested on a stadium project, particularly focusing on roof work activities, where workers are most prone to fall hazards. The proposed method aims to provide ease for site workers to access safety knowledge, including risk identification (including risk, fatality, location, and time), visualization of TSFs, personal protective equipment, and safety work instructions. This interactive dashboard also enables safety managers to plan safety measures, allocate TSFs efficiently, and make well-informed decisions to effectively mitigate risks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Forensic Science & Technology is the property of Institute of Forensic Science, Ministry of Public Security and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

There are significant risks in the construction sector, with falls from height identified a greater hazard than in most other industries. Efforts to improve working conditions and reduce accident rates have driven research into real-time monitoring technologies to reduce the risk of falls. The main objective of this research is to review existing real-time monitoring technologies, identify the most relevant, and analyse their benefits and impact on reducing workplace accidents in the construction sector. A systematic review was conducted using PRISMA methodology to investigate the use of real-time monitoring technologies in the construction industry. Only studies specifically investigating real-time fall risk assessment were included. Of the initial 446 articles reviewed, 39 were considered highly relevant to the research objectives. Various wireless and computer vision technologies were identified for real-time worker monitoring, often integrated with BIM to improve workplace safety. The findings suggest that a combination of technologies may produce more effective results for worker monitoring. However, further research is needed to verify the applicability of these technologies on construction sites.

Copyright of Forensic Science & Technology is the property of Institute of Forensic Science, Ministry of Public Security and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

We report two cases of falls from a very high altitude with no fatal injuries. Two men were found dead directly under a high bridge. Surveillance video footage indicated that they had fell approximately 120 m from the bridge to the ground. On the fall site, there was snow on the ground, and the men were completely buried in the snow. An autopsy performed at 2 days after their bodies were found, showed a small subdural hematoma in one patient and a minor pulmonary laceration in the other. However, no fatal injuries were observed. Their deaths were caused by hypothermia based directly on the difference in the coloration of the left and right cardiac blood, the bright red to reddish brown lungs, and the Wischnewski spots. The reason why no fatal injuries occurred despite falling from height was considered to be the fall onto the snow.

The construction sector is known for exposing workers to numerous potential hazards, with falls from heights being the leading cause. These fatal fall accidents not only result in human loss but also impose significant financial costs on construction projects. However, current safety planning and management is typically carried out manually using safety documents and 2D models, which are time-consuming and labor-intensive. There is also a lack of visualization for the placement of temporary safety facilities (TSFs) during construction. Meanwhile, Building Information Modeling (BIM) has the potential to be used as a comprehensive workspace planning for TSFs in a scheduling manner. Therefore, this study proposes the development of a construction safety dashboard to inform workers about fall hazards using spatial–temporal data stored in 4D BIM. The proposed approach includes four modules: (1) identification and assessment of risk from identified work activities, (2) development of 4D BIM model, (3) creation of a dashboard to share safety knowledge, and (4) validation of the dashboard through interviews with safety managers and site workers. This approach is tested on a stadium project, particularly focusing on roof work activities, where workers are most prone to fall hazards. The proposed method aims to provide ease for site workers to access safety knowledge, including risk identification (including risk, fatality, location, and time), visualization of TSFs, personal protective equipment, and safety work instructions. This interactive dashboard also enables safety managers to plan safety measures, allocate TSFs efficiently, and make well-informed decisions to effectively mitigate risks.

• Vision-based monitoring depends on ladder safety rules. • Worker height estimated by bounding box height ratio. • Correlation of keypoints enhances helmet identification. • Improved regression loss boosts unsafe behavior detection. Introduction: Fatal fall from height accidents, especially on construction sites, persist, underscoring the importance of monitoring and managing worker behaviors to enhance safety. Deep learning showed the possibility of substituting the manual work of safety managers. However, applying detection results to determine compliance with safety regulations has limitations. Method: This study estimated the actual working height depending on the height of the object detection bounding box by specifying the consistent hinge part as a target marker based on ladder manufacturing regulations. Furthermore, an attempt was made to improve the separation between workers, coworkers, and persons unconnected to ladder activities by applying an optimized loss function alongside an attention mechanism. Results: The experimental results showed that an average precision increased from 87.60% to 90.44%. The performance of the monitoring unsafe behavior of ladder worker following the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency (KOSHA) guide was evaluated by 91.40 F1-Score, which accumulated sorted according to the working height. Conclusions: Experimental results show the feasibility of the real-time automate safety monitoring in ladder work. Practical Applications: By linking the estimated working height and deep learning multi-detection results to established safety regulations, the proposed method shows the potential to automatically monitoring unsafe behaviors in construction site. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Trauma is the leading cause of deaths worldwide. Electrical injury causes many damage to the body according to the elektrical load, considerably mortality. Falls from height are one of the most common causes of trauma in the world, it is a condition with high morbidity and mortality. Falls from height due to electrical injury that caused by mechanisms both electrical injury and falling from a height are complex injuries. Although cases of falling from height due to electrical injury have been reported in the literature, there are no studies examining them. The aim of this study is to examine cases of falls from height due to electrical injury, its clinical features were compared to only electrical injury cases and only falls from height. Methods: This is a retrospective cross-sectional study. Cases admitted to the emergency department of Dicle University Hospital between January 2015 and December 2021 were examined. In this study, 75 cases who fell from a height due to electrical injury, 75 cases who had only electrical injury, and 75 cases who fell only from a height were received. Trauma cases included in the study were examined age, gender, ground of fall, fall height, workplace accident and suicide status, electrical voltage, burn and trauma scores, laboratory findings, mortality. Results: Among the 75 cases falling from height due to electrical injury, 69 (92%) survived, 6 (8%) died. The median age was 24 (IQR: 17-37) years old. Of the cases, 70 (93.30%) were male, 53 (70.70%) were high voltage, 35 (46.70%) were workplace accidents. Among the variables examined, lactic dehydrogenase (LDH), creatinine kinase (CK), creatinine kinase myocardial band (CK-MB), total body burn surface area (TBSA%), Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS), Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) for burns were the factors affecting mortality(p<0.05). Comparison of cases who fell from a height due to electric injury and cases of only electric injury TBSA%, AIS for burns, Abbreviated Burn Severity Index (ABSI), Injury Severity Score (ISS), complications, high voltage, length of stay (LOS) were higher in patients who fell from height due to electric injury, with a significant difference (p<0.001). Comparison of cases of falling from a height due to electric injury and cases of only falling from height age, male gender, workplace accident rate were higher in patients who fell from height due to electric injury, with a significant difference (p<0.001). Conclusion: Falls from height due to electrical injury are major traumas that affect young adult men and have high mortality and complication rates, caused by high-voltage electrical injury. This trauma mechanism shows differences from only electric injury and only falls from height injuries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Introduction: Unintentional falls from height are a major cause of pediatric traumatic injury. This retrospective study investigated the characteristics, clinic-radiological features, and associated outcomes in a tertiary referral neurosurgical center. Materials and Methods: This study is a retrospective review of children below 16 years who presented to our neurosurgery referral center from January 2018 to 2019 with a history of fall from height. The demographic data, clinical parameters at presentation, imaging findings, clinical status at discharge, and outcome at the follow-up period were analyzed. Results: Of the 1,310 children with a history of neurotrauma, 520 (39.7%) of them had a history of fall from height, among which 67% were falls from short height. The mean age was 5.99 ± 4.9 years. Of these 82.8% of children had mild, 13.8% moderate, and 3.2% had severe head injury. The imaging findings were normal in 59%, subgaleal hematoma in 18.6%, extradural hematoma in 9.9%, and spinal injuries in 1.4%. The regression analysis showed age, gender, the height of the fall, loss of consciousness, and seizure as predictors of the severity of the head injury. The Median Glasgow Outcome Scale-Extended at the follow-up period was one. About 2.3% of children had mortality within 1 week after the injury. The midline shift and associated injury had a significant impact on the outcome. Conclusion: In our retrospective study age, gender, height of fall, loss of consciousness, and seizures were associated with the severity of head injury. The presence of midline shift and other associated injuries was associated with the outcome at follow-up. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A fall from height is the main cause of serious injuries and fatalities in occupational and work-related accidents, especially construction. Falls from scaffolds, ladders, or roofs are very frequent accident scenarios. Especially for those falls from a height of 1 m to 6 m, the use of wearable smart airbags has been proposed to mitigate possible torso injuries. In this study, a virtual assessment of such an inflatable protector was conducted using numerical simulations and finite element human body models in order to determine its impact-protection performance under realistic impact conditions and identify its possible limitations. The findings obtained from the simulation study showed a significant protective effect provided by the airbag, mitigating a multiple rib fracture scenario and reducing the risk of internal organ injuries for those falling from four meters of height or less. The use case analyzed in this research demonstrates the suitability of using a virtual environment not only to evaluate current protectors but also to develop new protector devices, which could improve occupational safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to describe the nature and reasons for the fall, the injuries caused and their prognosis. Patients and methods: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study over a period of 9 years. Patients admitted for abdominal trauma from a fall from a height during the study period were included. Ultrasound and CT scan allowed diagnosis of the lesion. Patients in shock who do not respond to resuscitation are considered to have unstable hemodynamics. Results: fifty-three cases of abdominal trauma by falling from a height, including 11 adults and 42 children, were collected. They were 46 men and 7 women. The average age was 11.6 years. In 86.8% (n=46) of the cases it was a fall from the top of a tree. There were 83% (n=44) abdominal contusion and 17% (n=9) open trauma. Other lesions were associated in 28.3% (n=15) of cases. There were 26 splenic lesions (49%), 14 liver (22.6%) and 6 hollow organs (11.3%). Non-operative treatment was applied in 79.2% (n=42) of cases. Morbidity was 9.4% (n=5) and mortality 5.7% (n=3). Conclusion: Abdominal trauma from a fall from a height was dominated by falls from the top of fruit trees, and occurred in young male subjects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Childhood begins after birth and continues into adolescence; according to the Children's Bill of Rights, childhood is defined as the life up to 18 years after birth. Childhood mortality is a reliable indicator of health care facilities of a country and its development. Aims & Objective: Assessment of medico-legal profile among the unnatural deaths in paediatric age group at SMS Hospital, Jaipur Material & Methodology: A cross sectional observational prospective study that used inclusion and exclusion criteria was conducted. 65 autopsies of medico-legal paediatric unnatural death were taken in the study. The present study had been conducted in the Mortuary, Department of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology, SMS Hospital, Jaipur during the period from 15 June 2021 to 14 June 2022. Result & Observation: In this study total 65 pediatric victims studied. Male children account for 61.54 % (40 victims) while female account for 38.46 % (25 victims), unintentional pattern of death was present in 49 subject with accidental manner of death in all. Intentional pattern of death was present in 16 subject with homicidal manner of death in 6.15 % and suicidal manner of death in 18.45 %, In present study 23 subject (35.38 %) died due to Road Traffic Accident, followed by Fall From Height in 12 subject (18.45 %). Conclusion: From the study we concluded that there is an immense responsibility for the parents and caregivers in supervising their children. If the incident cannot be prevented, the victim should receive immediate care right away in order to save their life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: We retrospectively reviewed traumatic spinal fractures (TSFs), including their mechanisms of injury and associated injuries in patients aged ≤50 years admitted to our center over a period of 11 years. Our secondary objective was to investigate whether spine injuries have decreased since the introduction of new transportation-related legislation applications. Methods: Between 2005 and 2016, all patients admitted to the hospital due to TSFs, including cervical, thoracic, and lumbar spinal fractures, who were aged ≤50 years were included in this study. Patient demographics, mechanism of injury, associated injuries, hospital stay duration, treatment, complications, and mortalities were reviewed and analyzed. Results: Altogether, 373 patients (81% male; 19% female; median age, 28 years) were included in the study, and 579 spinal fractures were identified. The lumbar spine was the most affected part. The most common injury mechanism was motor vehicle accidents (MVA) (69.7%), followed by falls (26.8%). Neurological injuries were detected in 9.4% of patients. Associated injuries were observed in 45.3% of patients, and 33.6% of patients were surgically treated. Thoracic injuries and lower limb fractures were the most common injuries, and the postoperative complication rate was 3.9%. Conclusions: Although there was a significant decrease in TSFs after the speed control legislation over the study period, MVA and falls remained the most common causes of spinal injuries. Associated injuries, operated patients, and female sex were all associated with a prolonged hospital stay.

Accidents from heights are rampant and are rising day by day, with a higher number of injuries and deaths recorded in the construction industry. Some of the impacts of these incidents are the characteristic nature of the construction sector; unfailing deadlines to be met, environmental conditions during construction, natural and man-made disasters, lack of skilled manpower, undue gain over the provision of the best materials for construction. This paper gives an account of investigations of 100 scaffolding structures erected on-site in South East of Japan in terms of conformity with safety guidelines specified by the Japan International Centre for Occupation safety and health (JICOSH). Different kinds of hazards associated with falls from heights as well as the possible collapse of scaffolding due to human error/negligence and structural problem were also collated randomly from different construction and rehabilitation sites and are presented. Qualitative appraisal of conditions of some scaffolding components such as bracing, guardrails, platforms, struts and dresses, etc., which are categorized into standardized and non-standardized operations were done. According to the investigation, the most significant factor influencing the scaffold accident is structural safety, particularly the improper use of clamps and connectors which are critical elements on site. It is indispensable that trained personnel are hired to carryout scaffolding operation for effective safety.

This paper explores the first author's experience of surviving a fall from height, as preparation for a small-scale phenomenological study with other fall survivors. In May 2018, I fell 20 ft (6.1m) from a mountain path and sustained multiple serious injuries. By exploring the experience using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, I was able to gain a deeper understanding of the trauma surrounding the fall itself, and reflect on the experience of sharing personal trauma verbally and in writing. Five superordinate themes were established from the data: "Through the medical machine"; "Identity"; "Support systems"; "Coping" and "Aftermath." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Turkish Journal of Trauma & Emergency Surgery / Ulusal Travma ve Acil Cerrahi Dergisi is the property of KARE Publishing and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Falls from great heights require management in major trauma centers due to frequent associated life-threatening injuries. Emergency care units where patients who jump from a height are admitted have to be prepared to ensure prompt and organized care. A multidisciplinary team is mandatory for an accurate management. Case presentation: A 14-year-old female patient presented at the Emergency Care Unit after a suicide attempt by falling from a 12 m height. The imaging investigations showed multiple fractures, hepatic and renal hematomas, and bilateral hemopneumothorax requiring bilateral minimal pleurotomy for drainage. Conclusion: Polytrauma caused by fall from a great height has an effect on multiple systems and organs. For a correct and complete diagnosis, proper radiographic evaluation and computed tomography scans are mandatory. Early diagnosis and treatment of injuries, as well as a multidisciplinary approach of the patient, are crucial for a proper management of severe associated injuries and lead to better recovery and quality of life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Safety harness plays an essential role in protecting the workers in high-altitude operations from falls from heights. Automatic detection of safety harness wearing is significant for safety management. To deal with the inherent problems of the existing two-stage detection method for safety harnesses, a novel one-stage detection framework is designed by incorporating several promising modules into a YOLO network, which is end-to-end trained. Here, the dilated convolution module and the depth-wise separable convolution module are subsequently incorporated to improve the overall receptive fields of feature maps and to reduce the amount of calculation, respectively. An attention proposal sub-network (APN) is introduced for fine-grained feature learning. To improve the convergence of the proposed framework, a novel loss function is designed by adding a penalty term into the loss function named complete intersection over union (CIoU). Also, to facilitate the study, a new and publicly available dataset for safety harness wearing detection is constructed, which consists of 2617 images including 8163 safety harness examples. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed framework can perform an excellent task for safety harness wearing detection with 80.25% mAP at a reasonable speed of 29.18 FPS, especially for small instances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fall from height (FFH) is an accident that leads to fatalities in construction workers, and a major cause of FFH is due to the improper fastening of a safety hook of a safety harness to a temporary structure. In this study, we propose a new approach for recognizing the fastening state of the safety hook based on the similarity of motion between the motion of the hook and the body. We first assume that the similarity of motion between a hook and a body will be more similar when a hook is fastened to a part of a body than when the hook is fastened to a temporary structure. Under this assumption, we propose a new method that measures the similarity of motion of a hook and a body. In the proposing method, motions are represented through acceleration and rotations of the hook and the body. The magnitude of acceleration is represented as an ordinal variable and the magnitude of acceleration is jointly represented with rotations in a spherical coordinate system for effective similarity measurement of both motions. The effectiveness of our approach is verified by our newly collected task-related human activity dataset comprising the motion data of the hook and the body from inertial measurement unit (IMU) embedded mobile devices. Our proposed method confirmed that representing the magnitude of acceleration as an ordinal variable shows improved performance of 82.95% in terms of Youden’s index. Moreover, it further verified that jointly representing the magnitude of acceleration and the rotation in the spherical coordinate system shows improved performance of 90.64% in terms of Youden’s index.

Falls, including falls from height and the same level, have among the highest occurrence rate in the construction industry. They are also the highest contributor to fatalities in the construction industry. The objective of this research is to determine the factors that contribute to a falling hazard. This research was conducted by distributing a survey questionnaire among OSH regulators in the northern region of Malaysia. A total of 130 respondents from enforcement bodies were involved in the study. From the factors contributing to occupational accidents and illnesses in general, worksite conditions (3.92), worksite arrangements (4.08) and resource management (4.07) were perceived as the most significant variables by the respondents. Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) analysis was applied to validate the relationship between the observed and latent variables in testing the hypothesis. Falls from height (R2 = 0.214; T = 5.600; p = 0.000) and falls at the same level (R2 = 0.150; T = 5.061; p = 0.000) had the most significant relationship with worksite, management and external elements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Falls are the second cause of accidental deaths worldwide. Falls from height are also a common method of suicide. The aim of this study is to compare the characteristics of the victims, the circumstances of the fall and the severity and distribution of the injuries reported in an autopsy case series of falls from height. This study is a retrospective analysis of consecutive autopsy cases of suicidal and accidental falls from height which were investigated in the Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens during the period 2011–2019. The recorded variables included demographic data of the victim, height of fall, length of hospital stay, toxicological results, the existence and location of injuries and Injury Severity Score (ISS). Victims of suicidal falls were younger (55.53 vs. 62.98, p = 0.001), they fell from higher heights (12.35 vs. 5.18 m, p < 0.001), and they sustained more severe injuries compared with victims of accidental falls (ISS 51.01 vs. 40.88, p < 0.001). Injuries in the thorax, abdomen, pelvis, upper and lower extremities were more frequently observed after a suicidal fall (93.6% vs. 67.3%, 72.1% vs. 21.4%, 72.1% vs. 27.6%, 42.9% vs. 15.3%, 45.7% vs. 13.3%, respectively-p < 0.001), probably due to the higher height of fall. Our study outlines the differences in the profile of the victims and in the severity of injuries caused by falls from height depending on the intention of the victim to fall. However, a distinctive injury pattern in victims of suicidal falls was not demonstrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Childhood trauma is often caused by accidental or neglected falls. In this study, we aimed to evaluate demographic and clinical factors to determine the incidence of falls from height in children under two years old. Materials and Methods: The study included 106 forensic cases who presented to the emergency department after falling from a height of one meter or more as a result of an accident or negligence between January 1, 2016 and December 31, 2021. According to the level of fall height, the cases were divided into two groups as below 3 meters and above. Clinical findings, hospitalization, and mortality status were used to group patients. Results: Of the 106 cases included in the study, 59(55.7%) were male. The mean age of the patients was 12.89±6.80 months and the mean height level was 3.67±2.85 m. The mean height of the low and high groups was 1.78±0.71, 6.92±2.09 meters, respectively. Cranial fracture was present in 21(19.8%) patients in the high group and all traumatic parenchymal brain lesions except contusion were seen in the high group. Pediatric surgery and neurosurgery hospitalizations were in the first place with 6(5.7%) cases in the low group, and intensive care hospitalization with 15 (14.2%) cases in the high group. While the operation was performed in 11 (10.4%) cases in the high group, none in the low group. Four (3.8%) of the nine (8.5%) fatalities occurred in the emergency department. Conclusion: Especially cases of falling from height under the age of two are common and are an important cause of morbidity and mortality. Fall height level is an important marker in terms of clinical and prognosis. Informing and educating caregivers and parents can prevent accidents and neglect in advance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A fall from height is the main cause of serious injuries and fatalities in occupational and work-related accidents, especially construction. Falls from scaffolds, ladders, or roofs are very frequent accident scenarios. Especially for those falls from a height of 1 m to 6 m, the use of wearable smart airbags has been proposed to mitigate possible torso injuries. In this study, a virtual assessment of such an inflatable protector was conducted using numerical simulations and finite element human body models in order to determine its impact-protection performance under realistic impact conditions and identify its possible limitations. The findings obtained from the simulation study showed a significant protective effect provided by the airbag, mitigating a multiple rib fracture scenario and reducing the risk of internal organ injuries for those falling from four meters of height or less. The use case analyzed in this research demonstrates the suitability of using a virtual environment not only to evaluate current protectors but also to develop new protector devices, which could improve occupational safety.

In order to accurately evaluate the overall risk of falling from height in building construction and solve the problem of fuzziness and uncertainty of accident causing factors, a fault tree analysis method based on fuzzy set theory was proposed. First, the fuzzy fault tree model was used to identify the key causative elements from qualitative and quantitative perspectives, and the failure probability is obtained. Then, the risk analysis matrix was used to evaluate the risk consequences. Finally, the method was applied to an example for verification. The research results show that the fault tree analysis method based on the fuzzy set theory solves the inaccuracy of probability and the inaccuracy of engineering. The comprehensive risk assessment combined with the failure possibility and consequence severity of falling from height provides a theoretical reference for the formulation of preventive measures. And it has convenient and efficient application value in reliability engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main cause of fatal accidents in the construction sector are falls from height (FFH) and the inappropriate use of a harness is commonly associated with these fatalities. Traditional methods, such as onsite inspections, safety communication, or safety training, are not enough to mitigate accidents caused by FFH associated with a poor management in the use of a harness. Although some technological solutions for the automated monitoring of workers could improve safety conditions, their use is not frequent due to the particularities of construction sites: complexity, dynamic environments, outdoor workplaces, etc. Then, the integration of expert knowledge with technology is a key issue. Fuzzy logic systems (FLS) and Internet of Things (IoT) present many potential benefits, such as real-time decisions being made based on FLS and data from sensors. In the current research, the development and test of an IoT system integrated with the Java Fuzzy Markup Language Library for FLS, to support experts' decision making in FFH, is proposed. The proposal was checked in four construction scenarios based on working conditions with different levels of risk of FFH and obtained promising results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives. The aim of this study is to identify the role of computed tomography scan (CT scan) of the cervical spine and Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) in detecting spinal injuries associated with head injury. Methods. This cross sectional study was conducted in the emergency department of Baghdad teaching hospital prospectively from October 2016 to October 2017. A total of 469 patients were included in this study, 59 of them with spine injury. All patients were examined promptly and were treated accordingly; all were subjected to X-rays and CT-scan of the skull and cervical spine for evaluation of head and cervical spinal injury, respectively. Results. A total of 469 patients were enrolled in this study, mean age of 42.6 ± 13.7 years. The majority of patients were male (383/469) representing 81.7%. There was a significant correlation between Severity of TBI and cervical injury (P<0.001). There was a significant association between cervical injury and the presence of clinical and radiographic findings and associated injuries (P<0.001). It was found that cervical injury was more frequent in patients who were exposed to fall from a height. Conclusion. CT scan and Glasgow coma scale are highly specific, sensitive, and accurate, with positive and negative predictive values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: ICD 10 has unified the diagnosis, in this study, we have studied fall from height as per ICD 10 classification of cases who reported to emergency department of tertiary care hospital in Maharashtra. Unintentional fall from height represents a significant cause of injury in urban populations. Results: In this retrospective study, data pertaining to cases which were examined and treated at a tertiary care centre in Western India was analysed from 2014-2016. A total of 44 cases qualified our criteria of unintentional fall from height.83% of the population study were male. 21-40 years of age were most commonly affected. Alcohol was a common factor amongst the falls. As the year progressed number of cases have decreased. W10 ICD 10, fall from stairs were the most common cause of fall. Head injuries (42%) followed by extremities injuries were the most common. Conclusion: A significant number of non -- fatal cases occur due to unintentional fall from height. There is a need to study the demographic profile of injured persons, assess the severity of their injuries and identify certain risk factors associated with such non-fatal injuries due to fall from height. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Fall from height is one of the main causes of death in the construction workers. Therefore, this study aimed to identify and prioritize the factors affecting falls from height accidents in construction industry. Material and method: A descriptive-analytical study was conducted on five constructional projects in Pars Jonoobi industrial region, Iran. All of the reported events from 2011 to 2015 were investigated and 74 out of 377 occupational accidents were considered as falls from height accidents. The identified factors and sub-factors were divided into 3 main factors including individual, organizational and environmental factors and 14 sub-factors based on the experts’ opinion. Then, AHP method was used to determine and prioritize of the factors and sub-factors. Results: The results of hierarchical analysis of fall from height accidents causes showed that environmental, individual, and organizational factors with weights of 0.359, 0.351, and 0.290 were in the first, second, third priorities, respectively. Meanwhile, among all examined sub-factors, work platform elevation, mental/ occupational stresses and safety culture had the highest priority. Conclusion: Paying attention to the strategies that enhance the safety culture of employees and reduce their occupational stress levels in the workplace can be very effective in preventing of fall from height accidents.

Falls from escalators, although infrequent, can result in a wide array of injuries, ranging from minor lacerations to fatal outcomes. This retrospective study aims to detail the treatment and outcomes of eight patients who sustained blunt-force trauma from escalator falls and received care at Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs, California. Among these eight patients, seven required hospitalization, with three necessitating intensive care unit (ICU) admission, and two patients ultimately succumbing to their injuries. This investigation provides a comprehensive overview of the injury patterns associated with escalator falls, the medical interventions implemented, and the resultant patient outcomes. The findings aim to inform strategies for improving preventative measures and optimizing patient care., Competing Interests: Human subjects: Consent for treatment and open access publication was obtained or waived by all participants in this study. MetroWest Medical Center Institutional Review Board issued approval 2024-023. Animal subjects: All authors have confirmed that this study did not involve animal subjects or tissue. Conflicts of interest: In compliance with the ICMJE uniform disclosure form, all authors declare the following: Payment/services info: All authors have declared that no financial support was received from any organization for the submitted work. Financial relationships: All authors have declared that they have no financial relationships at present or within the previous three years with any organizations that might have an interest in the submitted work. Other relationships: All authors have declared that there are no other relationships or activities that could appear to have influenced the submitted work., (Copyright © 2024, Guimond et al.)

Fall from height is a cause of concern in the construction sector. Appropriate use of a harness can be the difference between an incident or a critical accident. Monitoring the proper use of a harness in the workplace using Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) devices is a recent and effective approach. The aim of this article is to identify typical limitations in a BLE monitoring system in order to propose solutions according to the existing literature. Alternative solutions found in the literature showed that the integration of BLE with other technologies such as building information modeling, radio-frequency identification or the global positioning system can improve the effectiveness of current monitoring approaches based only on BLE and reduce rates of fall from height accidents. For correct integration, both technological factors (cost, compatibility, data transmission) and cultural factors (social acceptance, procedures, etc.) must be taken into account. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Safety net performance, only evaluated at the design stage, must last throughout the net's life: the net should effectively retain a person if he accidentally falls. Standard No. NF EN 1263-1:2015, which defines the safety requirements applicable to such nets, proposes calculating a coefficient to take into account the ageing deterioration and make it possible to determine the breaking energy for a new net, established from a natural or artificial ageing test. This study presents a comparative analysis between coefficients obtained for three types of nets aged naturally and those from samples of the same nets subjected to two cycles of artificial ageing. Standard No. NF EN ISO 4892-2:2013 therefore appears to be an interesting alternative to the currently proposed cycle. Otherwise, this study shows, for the same conditions of natural ageing, an underestimation of the effect of ageing when calculated from samples as opposed to from a whole net. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The energy balance approach is one of the design approaches approved in fall protection standards Z359.6, Z259.16 and SS 607 to ensure that horizontal lifeline systems (HLLSs) are adequately designed. However, this study found that theoretical calculations predicting the total fall distance (hTFD) and maximum arrest load (MAL) using an energy balance approach need to be corrected before they can be used safely. Based on the data from 48 drop tests, the authors determined that energy balance calculations differ significantly from the empirical hTFD and MAL values of HLLSs. As a result, further correction factors are introduced into the theoretical calculations to estimate hTFD and MAL conservatively. These correction factors are estimated from a regression equation derived based on experimental results and theoretical calculations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Issues of ensuring the safety of working on height do not lose their relevance. Civil engineering is in the first place of the amount of injuries and deaths. It accounts for 17% of the structure of the main types of economy activity. The main reason of injuries is the fall from a height (30.5% of all injuries) More than 40% of accidents are lethal or cause partly or complete inability to work. The paper considers safety during ascent and descent on caged ladders, representing a way of collective protection. The construction of vertical ladders, arc cages and the mechanic of worker ascent are considered. Preliminary kinematic model of human fall has been considered during tests, using falling mannequin on caged ladders, with additional safety systems and without them. The analysis show, that caged ladders cannot provide enough protection and create an imaginary protection threat especially when the construction has three vertical bars, which has been set and tested. There is a high probability of falling on the ground or another platform. The paper shows, that cages are not as safe as personal protection equipment, installed on ladders. Some normative documents about vertical ladders allow falling from height less than 10m, which raises many questions about the safety of using that standards.

Due to the dynamics of changing construction-related entities at construction sites and the hazardous work environment, safety accidents occur frequently, especially falls from heights. The current practice of fall risk assessment for construction workers, which mainly relies on manual observation by safety experts, is a static risk assessment that is time-consuming and laborious. A proactive, dynamic risk assessment framework is urgently needed to address this issue. In this work, computer vision has been combined with dynamic Bayesian network (DBN) to propose a dynamic risk assessment framework. The aim of the proposed framework is to improve the efficiency of risk assessment and reduce fall risk by automatically detecting onsite risk factor information. The proposed framework was tested using the activity of climbing ladders as a case study. The results show that the proposed dynamic fall risk assessment framework is feasible. It can be used to dynamically assess the fall risk of workers by automatically detecting the states of fall risk factors and capturing dynamic changes among the risk factors. The framework also includes a method of sending targeted early warnings to workers while assessing their risk levels, reducing the possibility of falls. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Perineal impalements, although rare, exhibit high morbidity and mortality, associated with penetrating traumas by long objects, often resulting from falls or assaults. The risk of pelvic bleeding and the need for immediate intervention to preserve vital organs are characteristics of these injuries, whose severity demands a multidisciplinary approach. A 57-year-old male patient, a victim of a 5-meter fall, suffered an extensive perineal impalement. With stable vital signs, he underwent the ATLS protocol, followed by whole-body computed tomography (WBCT), revealing a metallic object traversing the perineum, abdomen, and thorax. The surgery involved laparotomy, sternotomy, and removal of the object under direct visualization, with repair of prostatic, vesical, hepatic, and diaphragmatic injuries. The postoperative period included transfusions and urological follow-up. Perineal impalements require immediate attention, and their approach is influenced by clinical factors and the extent of the object. The importance of preoperative evaluation with tomography, removal of the object under direct visualization, and comprehensive surgical management is highlighted. The decision for conservative treatment is reserved for less severe cases. This work has been reported in line with the SCARE criteria. Perineal impalements demand a rapid and integrated approach to optimize survival. Object removal, often performed by exploratory laparotomy, stands out as an essential procedure. Multidisciplinary expertise is crucial for the effective management of these complex injuries. This work has been reported in line with the SCARE criteria. • High morbity and mortality rates • Rare case: Severe trauma, unusual trauma kinetics with vital signs stable • In impalement injuries, object removal with direct visualization is necessary to minimize risks. • A multidisciplinary approach from pre-hos to postoperative follow-up is essential for a positive outcome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background Approximately one third of subjects ≥65 year old and half of subjects ≥80 years old sustain a fall injury each year. We aimed to study the outcomes of fall from a height (FFH) among older adults. We hypothesized that in an elderly population, fall-related injury and mortality are the same in both genders. Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted between January 2012 and December 2016 in patients who sustained fall injury at age of at least 60 years and were admitted into a Level 1 Trauma center. Patients were divided into 3 groups: Gp-I: 60–69, Gp-II: 70–79 and Gp-III: ≥80 years old. Data were analyzed and compared using Chi-square, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and logistic regression analysis tests. Results Forty-three percent (3665/8528) of adult trauma patients had FFH and 59.5% (2181) were ≥ 60 years old and 52% were women. The risk of fall increased with age with an Odd ratio (OR) 1.52 for age 70–79 and an OR 3.40 for ≥80. Females fell 1.2 times more (age-adjusted OR 1.24; 95% CI 1.05–1.45) and 47% of ≥80 years old suffered FFH. Two-thirds of FFH occurred at a height ≤ 1 m. Injury severity (ISS, NISS and GCS) were worse in Gp-II, lower extremities max Abbreviated Injury score (max AIS) was higher in Gp-III. Overall mortality was 8.7% (Gp-I 3.6% vs. 11.3% in Gp-II and 14% in Gp- III). Males showed higher mortality than females in the entire age groups (Gp-I: 4.6% vs 1%, Gp-II: 12.9% vs 4.2% and Gp-III: 17.3% vs 6.9% respectively). On multivariate analysis, shock index (OR 3.80; 95% CI 1.27–11.33) and male gender (OR 2.70; 95% CI 1.69–4.16) were independent predictors of mortality. Conclusions Fall from a height is more common in older adult female patients, but male patients have worse outcomes. Preventive measures for falls at home still are needed for the older adults of both genders.

To ensure that vertical lifeline systems (VLLSs) are well designed, calculation methods are required to estimate the extension of a personal energy absorber (PEA) (xPEA) and the total fall distance (hTFD). Thus, the authors conducted 28 tests to validate the accuracy of the energy balance approach for estimating xPEA and hTFD of VLLSs and propose suitable correction factors to improve the accuracy and safety of the estimated xPEA and hTFD. For 9 out of 19 tests with a PEA, the difference between the theorical xPEA and empirical xPEA was 25% or higher, indicating that the energy balance approach is not accurate for estimation of xPEA. In contrast, theoretical values of hTFD are more accurate. Linear regression equations for estimating xPEA (R2 = 0.81) and hTFD (R2 = 0.99) were developed. The regression equations can be used to improve the accuracy and conservativeness of estimations of xPEA and hTFD during the design of VLLSs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]