Ergonomics-based Methods of Inspecting, Assessing and Documenting Environmental Sites of Injurious Falls

摘要

This presentation is primarily based on decades of methodological experience developing, testing, implementing, publishing and debating methods that are key to assessing and documenting sites of injurious falls that lead to litigation in which environmental flaws are suspected, alleged, assessed, documented and demonstrated, often in a relatively rigorous fashion through the legal process. Furthermore, the most important of the methods have been published in the scientific/technical literature on ergonomics of falls as well as being reflected in technical requirements of codes and standards for the built environment. The presentation also draws, in part, from a three-hour workshop at the Annual Meeting of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society on October 1, 2007. However, despite this extensive record, the methods are apparently little known to many investigators called upon to provide initial documentation of fall sites. Also, some investigators and "experts" lack sufficient skills to identify all of the environmental factors that should be considered in the analysis of certain falls, in this context restricted to falls resulting from missteps on small elevation differences, slopes and steps. This means that many fall sites are not adequately assessed, as well as being poorly documented. In turn this means that dangers are allowed to persist and responsibility for such dangers is not properly considered in legal proceedings ensuing after some injurious falls. A secondary basis for the presentation is extensive experience gained by the second author in home inspection and teaching of home inspection. In addition to not focusing solely on fall hazards, such home inspections are conducted in a commercial context that imposes some constraints on the breadth and detail possible in the inspection and subsequent reporting. Nonetheless, such inspections are potentially important as, unlike post-incident investigations conducted for forensics reasons, home inspections can address injury dangers in a proactive fashion. The extent to which home inspections actually can be proactive and injury-prevention oriented is addressed briefly along with institutional reasons retarding widespread or universal reliance on commercial home inspection for fall prevention. Also addressed are real-world limitations on other inspections performed in home settings by regulatory authorities enforcing minimum requirements of design and construction codes.