Common Workplace Injuries

Workplace injuries are, unfortunately, a relatively frequent occurrence. They occur, as would be expected, more often in dangerous work environments, like construction areas. They do also happen in non-traditionally dangerous fields, like in an average office. Even in a professional environment like an office building, there are many opportunities for injuries. Many of them are things that we do not expect or think of as particularly dangerous, but they can cause problems nonetheless.
Some of the most common causes of workplace injuries, according to information gathered by the Liberty Mutual Group, include:
· Overexertion. This can happen in a couple of ways, whether it is the performance of a single activity, like lifting an object that is too heavy, or an action repeated multiple times.
· Fall on a flat surface. This simply means a fall that does not include an elevation change, like slipping on a wet floor or a slippery surface.
· Falling from a height. This could include falling off of a ladder, from a roof, or down a staircase.
· Being hit with an object. Objects can fall from a shelf or be dropped by someone else- in either event, they can cause serious injuries.
· Repetitive motion. This does not have to be a particularly dangerous motion, but if it is repeated enough times, it can cause injuries like carpal tunnel or tendonitis. Typing is often associated with these kinds of injuries.
· Automobile accidents. Cars and trucks being used for business purposes have accidents; they are susceptible to all of the regular risks that any other traveler faces.
· Contact with dangerous temperatures. Frostbite, heat exhaustion, and burning are all ways that workers can be injured through changing temperatures.
· Crush injuries. Being caught or pressed by equipment, especially huge machinery, can obviously cause serious injuries. They can be devastating because of how powerful the machines are.
· Running into objects. Hitting desks, tables, chairs, or glass doors actually causes a number of injuries annually.
It is important to be as cautious as can be while at work to promote as much safety as possible, but it is also the responsibility of the employer to provide a safe work atmosphere.
Joseph Devine