How to Address the Risk for Falls

The risk of falling is present both at work and at home. Workplace falls hurt not only the employee, who has an injury to recover from and a lowered income while on workers' compensation, but also the company, which has to replace the labor and possibly face increased workers' compensation payments and state/federal safety agency audits or inspections. Individuals away from the workplace, specifically the elderly, also have a risk of falls. Steps need to be taken to ensure that care facilities and businesses serving the elderly have performed a fall assessment to reduce the frequency and severity of falls.

Instructions

Workplace Assessment

• 1

  Check workplace lighting to ensure that it is proper for the environment and is consistently maintained. Change bulbs when necessary and perform any other maintenance required. Always turn on lights when entering a workspace.

• 2

  Assess the safety of walking surfaces by inspecting walking surfaces for cleanliness. Slippery, dirty, messy or broken walking surfaces are contributing factors of falls. Ensure that walking surfaces are cleaned and maintained by enabling employees to clean up messes as they are made and by having a reporting process in place for the maintenance or repair of walking surfaces. Ensure that walkways are open and free of clutter; this includes closing all drawers or doors that open across the walkway.

• 3

  Require the use of personal protection equipment, including proper footwear, placement and maintenance of guardrails, tie-offs and scaffolding. Police proper footwear by enacting a policy designating the appropriate footwear -- steel-toed boots, for example -- and by enforcing the policy. Ensure that all guardrails are in place and are in working order. When employees must do elevated work, ensure that all safety precautions are in place, such as tie-offs, harnesses, chains or tape and properly maintained scaffolding.

• 4

  Implement a training program addressing the risks of falls. Lack of training makes proper maintenance and repair moot, because if the employee isn't using the equipment at all, or is using the equipment incorrectly, falls are going to occur.

• 5

  Act on deficiencies that have been itemized in fall assessment. Submit this assessment to management for action.

Assessment for the Protection Individuals

• 6

  Ensure that the individual has had proper medical care that would diagnose the presence of a disease impacting vision. If the individual does wear glasses, ensure that the glasses are the correct prescription, by continuing to see an eye doctor on an annual basis, and that they are convenient for use, perhaps by attaching them to a chain to be worn around the neck. There are many diseases, some that are more common in the elderly, that impact vision. These diseases include macular degeneration, glaucoma, cataracts and diabetic retinopathy. Individuals will sometimes stop wearing prescription glasses because they misplace them or perhaps the prescription is incorrect and causes headaches.

• 7

  Ensure that lighting is adequate for the space and purpose and that it is properly maintained. Keep walkways clear of debris and spills. Install grab rails in restrooms and handrails on inclines. Poor lighting, messy or slippery walk spaces and lack of personal protective equipment contribute to falls.

• 8

  Review medications for side effects of dizziness, which can lead to falls. Common medications that have a side effect of dizziness include blood pressure medicines, muscle relaxers and sedatives. If it is necessary for an individual to take medicines that may cause dizziness, ensure that proper precautions are taken to reduce the risk of falls, such as not leaving the individual alone.

• 9

  Assess footwear for appropriateness and condition. Improper footwear, whether inappropriate for the environment or poorly maintained, is a contributing factor of falls.

• 10

  Act on deficiencies that have been itemized in the fall assessment. If it is a home environment, correct deficiencies as soon as possible. If it is a business environment, distribute this assessment to management for action.