Accidents happen, but they don’t always have to. As much as fate can have some occult hand in the events leading to accidental injury, accidents also tend to indicate an abdication of responsibility. This couldn’t be truer than for workplace accidents and injuries, for which responsibility ultimately falls – at least, philosophically – to the workplace.
Industrial workplace environments are amongst the most hazardous, on account of outsized risk relating to machinery, working at height, and even falling objects. In a world increasingly led by logistics, the importance of new businesses responding to falling object accidents is higher than ever. Here, let’s explore how to manage this moral, ethical and legal responsibility.
Why Falling Object Accidents Happen
As briefly touched-upon already, accidents involving falling objects are more common in some workplace environments than others. Many workplaces require objects to be stored at height, but workers are more often exposed to objects stored at height in construction, warehousing, logistics and retail stockroom environments. Warehouse environments are becoming more common, too, as global logistics pathways continue to grow in the face of e-commerce disruption.
‘Falling objects’, though, isn’t a helpful category past the commonality of the instance, and commonality of outcome. Any object can fall from height, from a construction operative’s toolbox to a pallet of wholesale materials. The lethality of falling objects can differ wildly – but, where a victim doesn’t suffer lethal casualty from a falling object, the response is largely the same.
What to Do Straight Away
In the immediate aftermath of a falling object incident, emergency services need to be contacted. The area first needs to be secured to ensure no further objects will fall and endanger workers. Once the safety of the area is ascertained, immediate first aid assistance can be administered to the victim of the accident while emergency services arrive.
Understanding the Victim Journey
As the dust literally and figuratively settles on a falling-object incident, the victim is likely to start gathering evidence and witness statements; in many cases, falling-object incidents are matters of employer negligence, whether through poor employee training or poor workplace standards. This evidence-gathering would be in service of starting a claim process, to recover costs associated with recovery, loss of work, emotional distress and other potential life-limiting factors.
Employer Responsibilities and Safety Standards
In acknowledging that most falling-object incidences signpost a fundamental negligence on the part of the business, it is possible to minimise the likelihood of future falling-object accidents through directly tackling the potential root causes. Proper provision of PPE is a legal requirement, as is proper training of staff in its use and in proper workplace undertakings; going above and beyond in training, support and infrastructural investment, though, will go some ways towards securing worker safety for the future – and securing worker trust as to the safety of a business, too.
