@article{ref1,
title="Twenty years of workers' compensation costs due to falls from height among union carpenters, Washington State",
journal="American journal of industrial medicine",
year="2014",
author="Lipscomb, Hester J. and Schoenfisch, Ashley L. and Cameron, Wilfrid and Kucera, Kristen L. and Adams, Darrin and Silverstein, Barbara A.",
volume="57",
number="9",
pages="984-991",
abstract="BACKGROUND: Falls from height (FFH) are a longstanding, serious problem in construction. <br><br>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. <br><br>RESULTS: Over the 20-year period FFH accounted for $66.6 million in WC payments or $700 per year for each fulltime 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. <br><br>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. Am. J. Ind. Med. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0271-3586",
doi="10.1002/ajim.22339",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ajim.22339"
}