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A study of workers' compensation claims in Washington State, 1996 to 2002
Abstract:
Stilts are used in the construction trades to elevate a worker above the walking surface to complete work on walls and ceilings. This article examines data from Washington State's workers' compensation system and describes the magnitude, underlying causes and costs of claims incurred by stilts users. A total of $3.4 million was paid on 277 claims from 1996 to 2002. The median cost of compensable claims was $7,223 and these claims cost a median of 73 lost workdays. Prevention strategies are provided based on the injury causes found in this claims analysis.
THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY is at high risk for sustaining work-related injuries and illnesses (Bonauto, et al 3; Leigh, et al 201; Okun, et al 302; NIOSH 240). Workers face many hazards such as a dynamic, temporary and changing worksite; working at heights; using power tools; and lifting heavy and awkward materials. While various trades often share the same evolving space, all must take responsibility for ensuring a safe workplace.
Construction work is often performed on elevated surfaces such as scaffolds, ladders, lifts and stilts. Stilts are a form of scaffolding; however, a person wearing stilts typically lacks secondary fall protection devices such as safety rails or harnesses that are required with scaffolds. If a worker wearing stilts were to trip, s/he will likely fall. In Washington State, stilts are used primarily in wallboard installation, wallboard finishing and insulation installation trades. In these trades, stilts permit the user to quickly access areas high overhead, in corners, on ceilings and in narrow spaces such as hallways.
Stilts extend the lower part of a person's leg and raise a person above the walking surface. This shifts a person's center of gravity upward, requiring the wearer to adjust his/her sense of balance. Otherwise nonhazardous aspects of the working environment-such as doorways, overhead fixtures and benches-can become hazardous as a stilts user tries to navigate around them. Most stilts are made of aluminum and the worker's foot is typically secured with straps to a fixed, spring-loaded sole plate while the footpad that contacts the ground articulates. Stilts may have fixed legs that range from 14 to 24 in. or telescoping legs that extend...