ABSTRACT
The healthcare industry, comprised of approximately 13 million workers, is the largest employer in the United States and ranks second in percentage of slip, trip, and fall (STF) accident severity. In 2002, the hospital industry had the most injuries, over 296,000, in the United States. Even with a large workforce, hospitals have a higher than average rate of STFs. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data has shown that the incidence rate of lost-workday injuries from STFs in hospitals was 38.6 per 10,000 full-time employee (FTE) and 85% greater than the average rate for all other private industries combined (Bell et al., 2007).
