An analysis of occupational stair accident patterns

This report describes an analysis of existing occupational injury data concerning stairway-related falls. Injury data based on reports obtained from the Ohio and California workers' compensation agencies were analyzed to identify common stair injury patterns. Frequency tabulations are provided for the following factors: (a) location (indoors vs. outdoors, on vs. off employer's premises, site category); (b) task (ascending vs. descending, body movement on the stair, task being attempted); and (c) events (precipitating actions and conditions). One of the most outstanding findings is that 92 % of the injuries occurred when the worker was descending the stair, i.e., 636 of the 688 cases in which direction of travel was indicated. Additionally, injury records from the New York and Ohio workers' compensation agencies were used to rank industries in terms of combined frequency and severity rates of stairway-related injuries.