Dropped objects may also be referred to as fallen or falling objects. Due to the potential fatal injuries that can result from being struck by a relatively light dropped object, this constitutes a significant occupational safety hazard and is a common source of injury and death. Although the term “dropped object” can refer to a falling object in any occupational context, it is specifically used with high frequency to refer to objects dropped within the context of the oil and gas industry.

Dropped objects are a major source of injury and death, constituting a top-three source of fatalities in many jurisdictions. In the UK, dropped tools are the second most common source of workplace fatality. The obligations that employers have to create a safe workplace include housekeeping and hazard assessment obligations to prevent objects from turning into dropped-object hazards. Many workplaces also use tethering programs that mandate that tools be secured by a tether to either workers or to a part of the workplace.

In 2018, the American National Standards Institute, in association with the International Safety Equipment Association, approved its first dropped-object standard, the American National Standard for Dropped Object Prevention Solutions (ANSI/ISEA 121-2018). As ANSI standards are often recognized by OSHA as best-practice standards, compliance with this standard may be viewed as evidence that an employer has taken the steps necessary to meet its general duty to provide employees with a safe workplace.

Within the oil and gas industry, an intra-industry initiative referred to as the “Dropped Objects Prevention Scheme” (DROPS) was developed as a means of responding to the major role of dropped objects in causing or exacerbating safety and operational incidents. The DROPS forms the basis of many dropped-object prevention programs used throughout the industry, such as Chevron’s. The Chevron program provides all employees with “stop work authority”—the ability to order a work stoppage without repercussions if they believe that an unsafe condition (such as a dropped-object hazard) is present.