To answer this particular question, I engaged in painstaking scientific research.
First of all, what does it sound like when they land? There are only a few death drops where we know there are meat grinders at the bottom, such as those featuring falling carcasses of nondescript species as obstacles. But it does sound like ground. Maybe not flat, uncluttered ground, but an impact with some sort of floor nonetheless.
Is this fall alone enough to kill something? By timing the fall, we can calculate the distance of the average Oddworldian death-drop using the formula:
d = ½ gt^2
In which
d is distance in meters,
g is the gravitational constant and
t is time in seconds.
But we must first make an assumption: that Oddworld's gravity is the same strength as our own. Based upon various interpretations of the planet's given size, this should not be the case. But, for whatever reason, in practice there appears to be very little difference, if any, between the strength of gravity on Earth and Oddworld. For convenience's sake, we shall assume it is the same.
By timing the time various characters fall for and taking an avergae, I make their free-fall approximately 2·6 seconds long. So:
½ (9·81*2·6^
2) = ~33
Due to errors with the timing I will accept an accuracy of ±5 meters
So, both falls of 28 meters and 38 meters are known to be pretty devastating, especially if impact is made with a hard surface.
We also know that they die anyway, which makes the above charade completely pointless showing off.
Perhaps their remains are gathered up and put into various Rupture Farms products. That might explain the careless provision of deadly trap-doors and their controls: increased accidents=increased output. Rather counter-intuitive, but since when has the Magog Cartel been anything less than short-sighted?