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Melissa Perry, ScD
Harvard School of Public Health Occupational Health Program
Boston, MA
Ph: (617)432-1260
Email: mperry@hohp.harvard.edu
Abstract:
This project seeks to prevent falls from ladders in construction by translating data on epidemiologic risk factors and field assessment hazards into applied preventive interventions. Despite the considerable attention to fall prevention in construction, falls from ladders have received less attention and the most effective intervention approaches are not yet obvious. This project will progress in two stages focusing on pre-intervention studies to determine modifiable risk factors and then their subsequent translation into intervention programs. The pre-intervention research stage will investigate three specific aims: 1) identifying the actual circumstances involved in falls in constructions from portable ladders using a combination of descriptive coded narrative text data from national surveillance data systems; 2) quantifying the highest risk tasks and other modifiable risk factors for worker falls from ladders using unique case-crossover methods in which injured workers serve as their own controls; and 3) developing audit tools for on-site assessments of the portable ladder practices, including modifying available straight ladder checklists to step ladders. The subsequent implementation stage will focus on two additional specific aims: 4) critically reviewing the efficacy of available risk reduction training approaches and ladder design variations; and 5) testing multifaceted interventions and measuring effects using an experimental study design. The intervention will focus on targets to reduce risk such as ladder design, job task design, and managerial safety training approaches. Intervention programming will use methods such as worksite audits and jobsite superintendent training to communicate risk reduction information. The intervention messages will include ways to incorporate 10-point safety checklists into work routines to reduce worksite ladder hazards and substituting other equipment for the most hazardous tasks done on ladders. A randomized controlled design that includes cluster randomization and analysis will be used to test intervention effectiveness. Hypotheses to be tested include the efficacy of the intervention on reducing ladder hazards and increasing safety behaviors among job site superintendents and workers.
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