Introduction to Health and Safety at Work

9.2.2 Falls from work at height
These are the most common cause of serious injury 
or death in the construction industry and the topic is 
covered in Chapter 16. These accidents are often con-
cerned with falls of greater than about 2 m and often result 
in fractured bones, serious head injuries, loss of con-
sciousness and death. Twenty-fi ve per cent of all deaths at 
work and 19% of all major accidents are due to falls from 
a height. Falls down staircases and stairways, through 
fragile surfaces, off landings and stepladders and from 
vehicles, all come into this category. Injury, sometimes 
serious, can also result from falls below 2 m, for example, 
using swivel chairs for access to high shelves.
9.2.3 Collisions with moving vehicles
These can occur within the workplace premises or on the 
access roads around the building. It is a particular prob-
lem where there is no separation between pedestrians 
and vehicles or where vehicles are speeding. Poor light-
ing, blind corners, the lack of warning signs and barriers 
at road crossing points also increase the risk of this type 
of accident. Eighteen per cent of fatalities at work are 
caused by collisions between pedestrians and moving 
vehicles with the greatest number occurring in the ser-
vice sector (primarily in retail and warehouse activities).
9.2.4
Being struck by moving, falling or fl ying 
objects
This causes 18% of fatalities at work and is the second 
highest cause of fatality in the construction industry. It 
also causes 15% of all major and 14% of over three-day 
accidents. Moving objects include, articles being moved, 
moving parts of machinery or conveyor belt systems, and 
fl ying objects are often generated by the disintegration 
of a moving part or a failure of a system under pressure. 
Falling objects are a major problem in construction (due 
to careless working at height) and in warehouse work 
(due to careless stacking of pallets on racking). The head 
Figure 9.2
Cleaning must be done carefully to prevent 
slipping.

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