Occupational Safety and Health

The article deals with the issue of falls from a height. It defines basic terms such as fall, fall distance, fall from a height and into depth and fall clearance. It provides basic information on the mechanics and consequences of a fall. It explains the sorting of falls according to biomechanics, to the OSRI (VÚBP), to the consequences of a fall and to the OHS risk prevention. These are sorted into completed falls, incomplete (arrested) falls and pendulum falls, including subgroups.

The presented paper describes a forensic biomechanical reconstruction of a human fall from a hotel balcony, with special emphasis on the effect of railing height. The reconstruction integrates methods from forensic engineering, criminal science, biomechanics, numerical simulation, and 3D documentation. By using a multibody simulation in PC-Crash combined with a metrically accurate 3D model of the scene derived from a point cloud, the study enables an objective, quantitative evaluation of the incident dynamics. The paper compares the reconstructed fall trajectory with legislative standards for railing height, highlighting potential safety deficiencies. The findings demonstrate how scientifically based numerical reconstruction can support expert opinions in legal proceedings and contribute to the design of preventive measures in construction, thereby reducing the risk of human falls from height due to insufficient structural design of building elements.