How often these injuries happen
OSHA recorded 77 severe cases involving window openings over the last decade. Fractures are the most common injury, occurring in 36% of these incidents, often resulting from significant falls to lower levels.
These injuries frequently involve your fingers, which are often crushed or lacerated during a fall or when glass shatters. The severity of these accidents often leads to long-term physical impairment and extensive medical recovery.
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Check My BenefitsHow these injuries happen
Injuries involving window openings typically occur when you lose your balance while reaching through or climbing out of an opening. Many incidents involve falling to a lower level when you misjudge the distance or when a window frame fails to support your weight. In other cases, you may be struck by falling glass or window components that have not been properly secured during installation or demolition.
| Cause | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Other fall to lower level | 26 |
| 2 | Struck by falling object | 24 |
| 3 | Compressed between running equipment and other object(s) | 12 |
| 4 | Struck by suspended or swinging object | 5 |
| 5 | Struck against stationary object | 3 |
| 6 | Fall on same level | 2 |
| 7 | Injured by object handled by person | 2 |
| 8 | Struck by propelled, falling, or suspended object— unspecified | 1 |
Where injuries happen most
Construction accounts for 45% of all reported window-related injuries, primarily due to the high frequency of work performed near unfinished window frames and during the installation of glass systems. Manufacturing and administrative services also see significant incident rates, often when you are working near large, unsecured, or improperly maintained window structures.
Real cases like yours
Common patterns in these reports involve you falling while attempting to pass materials through openings or navigating between building units. Many incidents occur when you rely on window frames for support or when glass shatters unexpectedly under pressure. If any of these scenarios sound like what happened to you, an attorney can help you review the specifics of your incident to determine if employer negligence contributed to your injury.
| Year | State | Industry | Incident summary | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | KS | Wholesale Trade | "An employee was putting a dolly on the crane forks. The employee fell 15 feet from a window to the ground and was hospitalized with fractures to a wrist and rib, and a possible head injury." | |
| 2024 | NY | Wholesale Trade | "An employee was entering a basement window when they fell to the basement floor, breaking their elbow." | |
| 2024 | PA | Construction | "An employee was throwing a trash box out of the window when they fell out of the window two stories to the ground below and fractured their ribs and tailbone." | |
| 2024 | GA | Construction | "On August 13, 2024, an employee was conducting framing activities inside of a new multifamily residential structure. He climbed out of a second-story window to gain access to the adjacent multifamily unit's window and fell approximately 11 feet to the ground below. Both of his legs were broken and he was hospitalized." | |
| 2024 | NY | Construction | "An employee was using a corded portable grinder to cut off the top of bolts around the trim of a tempered glass window frame/pressure plate in order to reseal a sloped tempered glass system. He was on a piece of foam on the glass panel. The grinder nicked the glass causing it to shatter. The employee fell through the glass to the floor 10 feet below sustaining cuts and punctures from the glass, and a brain bleed/concussion. The employee was hospitalized." | |
| 2023 | PA | Health Care | "An employee had been cleaning windows inside an apartment. He went to step out onto a brick ledge to clean the exterior of the windows and lost balance. He fell from the third floor ledge to the patio/grass below and landed on his feet. The employee sustained vertebral compression fractures." | |
| 2023 | FL | Health Care | "Employees were working on scaffolding to remove a window that was open with the sash up. While maneuvering the window, the sash fell backward, rotated, and closed on the injured employee's hand. His right index fingertip was pinched and amputated by the sash and sill of the window." | |
| 2023 | ID | Construction | "An employee was emptying trash from the trash room on the second story of a building. As he was moving a bag of trash out of his way, the employee lost his balance and went to catch himself on the guardrail. The guardrail gave way and the employee fell out of the window to the ground below, sustaining two broken ankles." | |
| 2023 | FL | Construction | "An employee was taping an opening where a window was to be installed when they slipped and fell out of the window opening approximately 10 feet to the ground below. The employee suffered injuries to their L2 and T12 discs." | |
| 2023 | OH | Retail Trade | "An employee was loading windows into a trailer when the windows began to fall. As the employee went to stop the windows from falling with his right hand, he sustained a right wrist fracture that required hospitalization." |
Source: OSHA Severe Injury Reports. Narratives are verbatim from filings; identifying details may have been redacted by OSHA.