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Head impact conditions in workplace-related fall accidents
KTH, School of Engineering Sciences in Chemistry, Biotechnology and Health (CBH), Biomedical Engineering and Health Systems, Neuronic Engineering. Shanghai Jiao Tong Univ, Sch Med, Ruijin Hosp, Dept Neurosurg, Shanghai, Peoples R China.
MIPS AB, Kemistvagen 1B, S-18379 Täby, Sweden.
Shanghai Jiao Tong Univ, Sch Med, Ruijin Hosp, Dept Neurosurg, Shanghai, Peoples R China.
KTH, School of Engineering Sciences in Chemistry, Biotechnology and Health (CBH), Biomedical Engineering and Health Systems, Neuronic Engineering.ORCID iD: 0000-0003-0125-0784
2025 (English)In: Safety Science, ISSN 0925-7535, E-ISSN 1879-1042, Vol. 192, article id 106916Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

Workplace-related fall accidents (wrFAs) can cause traumatic brain injury and multiple body injuries and can even cause death. In addition, the economic cost such as medical expenses caused by wrFAs are gradually increasing. However, due to the limited understanding of the head-ground impact dynamics and location in wrFAs, there is no available and established method to test the protective effect of existing industrial safety helmets. In this study, we used multibody dynamics to predict the head impact conditions in a large variety of possible wrFAs. We studied the effect of different parameters, such as first impacting body part (FIBP), on head impact velocity (linear and angular), impact angle, and head impact location. Through the analysis of falls from ladders and platforms from between 1 and 5.35 m height, we found that the linear head impact velocity was (6.5 f 2.1 m/s), and the angular impact velocity was (14.3 f 12.7 rad/s). Furthermore, we found that the linear velocity was dependent on height whereas the angular velocity mainly was affected by FIBP. The impact angle between head and the ground varied between 26.7 degrees and 89.7 degrees, and the mean in falls from ladder and platform were 71 degrees and 72 degrees, respectively. The most common FIBP was the head (37 %) and lower extremities (36 %). The head impact locations were highly depending on the fall direction. Except for when the FIBP was the head, the impact location was most concentrated at the back of the head and below the head center of gravity (cg), which is likely not to be covered by the helmet. These impact parameters could be used as input conditions for subsequent injury analyses, and could potentially help define standard conditions for testing industrial helmets.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Elsevier BV , 2025. Vol. 192, article id 106916
Keywords [en]
Workplace-related falls, Head-ground impact, Brain injury, Industrial helmet standards, Multibody dynamics
National Category
Other Medical Engineering
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-374990DOI: 10.1016/j.ssci.2025.106916ISI: 001597615200001Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-105007799857OAI: oai:DiVA.org:kth-374990DiVA, id: diva2:2026236
Note

QC 20260108

Available from: 2026-01-08 Created: 2026-01-08 Last updated: 2026-01-08Bibliographically approved

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Kleiven, Svein

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