How often these injuries happen
OSHA recorded 36 severe cases involving falls to lower levels over the reporting period. Thermal burns and fractures account for 50% of these incidents.
These events frequently impact your legs and feet, often leading to long-term mobility issues. The severity of these injuries often requires surgical intervention and extended recovery periods.
Common injuries
Falls from heights often occur when you lose your footing on portable ladders, stairs, or constructed surfaces. Many incidents involve unexpected contact with tank, bin, or vat interiors where safety guards are missing or inadequate. These accidents frequently happen when you transition between levels or navigate around machinery.
| Injury Type | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Thermal burns | 9 |
| 2 | Fractures | 9 |
| 3 | Amputations, avulsions, enucleations | 7 |
| 4 | Cuts, lacerations, punctures without injury to internal structures | 5 |
| 5 | Traumatic injuries or exposures— unspecified | 2 |
| 6 | Injuries to internal organs and major blood vessels | 1 |
| 7 | Multiple severe wounds and internal injuries | 1 |
| 8 | Bruises, contusions | 1 |
Where injuries happen most
Construction accounts for 33% of all reported fall incidents. The nature of construction work requires frequent use of temporary platforms and ladders, where even minor lapses in safety protocols can lead to significant drops. Manufacturing environments also present risks, as you often navigate elevated machinery and platforms that lack proper fall protection systems.
Real cases like yours
Common patterns in these reports include you slipping on wet or hot surfaces, falling from scaffolds during maintenance, or stepping into uncovered drains near heavy equipment. These incidents often involve a failure to secure the work area or provide adequate fall protection. If any of these scenarios sound like what happened to you, an attorney can help you review the specifics of your incident.
| Year | State | Industry | Incident summary | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | NE | Other Services | "An electrician was on a 9-foot scaffold performing valve maintenance on an 8-inch line near a heat exchanger. The electrician was working to cycle a valve that failed to close. Due to a misaligned drain line and an open manual valve, hot liquid dextrose (~250 F) was released onto the floor below, creating a steam cloud. The electrician was evacuating the scaffold using the scaffold ladder when they slipped and fell 5-6 feet into the hot liquid, sustaining first- and second-degree burns to multiple parts of their body including both arms, both hands, their back, and their buttocks." | |
| 2025 | OK | Construction | "An employee was working to string cable at a temporary asphalt facility. He had been taking cable from the silos to the control room. He used a ladder to get to another silo and connect a cable. He slipped on the ladder and fell. A cable-supporting hook next to the ladder impaled and tore his right bicep. The employee required surgery." | |
| 2025 | FL | Professional Services | "An employee was walking around a boiler recovery tank when they stepped into an uncovered U-drain filled with hot water. The employee sustained second-degree burns to their right leg and the top of their foot." | |
| 2024 | TX | Manufacturing | "An employee was preparing to load a truck with hot wax. While working to isolate the trailer, the employee slipped off the beam and fell into the wax, resulting in first- and second-degree burns to his arms and legs." | |
| 2024 | IL | Professional Services | "On October 26, 2024, employees were preparing to clean a parts washer. An employee went up the stairs and stepped off the platform onto the door frame. They then stepped onto the washer's table to connect an overhead crane to the cleaned parts basket. They walked back across the washer's table to exit and then stepped back onto the door frame with their right foot to reach the step platform. Their left foot slipped and was submerged approximately 6-7 inches in an uncovered water reservoir containing water heated to approximately 170 F. The employee sustained second-degree burns on their left ankle and foot." | |
| 2024 | FL | Construction | "An employee was working on the sidewalk and roadway applying paint strips on the ground with thermoplastic striping paint, which was heated during application. The employee had dug a small hole to bury excess paint, and his foot went into the hole. He was hospitalized with second-degree burns to his right foot and lower right leg." | |
| 2024 | PA | Construction | "An employee was standing on a ladder and hooking up wires to an exit sign when he lost his balance and fell. He tried to catch himself and pulled a wire out of the light that shocked him. The employee also sustained a shoulder injury." | |
| 2024 | OH | Wholesale Trade | "On July 23, 2024, around 12:00 PM, an employee was on a ladder trying to remove a jam from the rolling blades on a machine. The employee fell off the ladder and their left foot was wedged in the rolling blades resulting in amputation of the middle toe. The blades were not locked out/tagged out at the time." | |
| 2024 | MS | Professional Services | "The injured employee was recording another employee servicing a tank. The injured employee climbed up a brick wall, lost their balance, and fell toward an operating machine. As they attempted to steady themself, their finger made contact with wiper blocks resulting in a severe laceration to their left middle finger, resulting in medical amputation and hospitalization." | |
| 2024 | FL | Construction | "An employee was descending a scaffold when they fell approximately 6 feet to the ground. The employee sustained a right shoulder and hand fracture." |
Source: OSHA Severe Injury Reports. Narratives are verbatim from filings; identifying details may have been redacted by OSHA.