Work Injuries a Leading Cause of Death and Injury in the United States
At Ivey Barnum & O’Mara, we have served more than a few victims
of workplace accidents. As a result, we are well-acquainted with the pain
and suffering they can cause. That’s why we’re spending this
year’s National Safety Month honing in on workplace injuries and
helping you avoid them.
According to the
Bureau of Labor Statistics 2014 Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries, thousands of people die in workplace accidents every year. While not
every workplace injury results in death, injuries on the job can result
in lost production time, lost wages, and long-term physical, emotional,
and financial harm to the employee, among other painful consequences.
With so much at stake, you can’t afford to take the possibility
of a workplace injury lightly. In order to help you keep yourself safe
on the job, we’re here to help you better understand what workplace
injuries are, how they happen, and how to handle them when they do happen.
Common Types of Workplace Injuries
Most people think of work injuries only in the realm of deadly, catastrophic
accidents like falling off of a ladder, chopping off a finger, or being
run over by a service truck. While these do occur, the most common workplace
injuries are varying degrees of cuts, sprained joints, physical pain and
soreness. While these may not kill you, they can cause you a lot of suffering
in the long run. These can result from any of the following:
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Overextension: This often occurs when a job requires employees to perform the same motions
repeatedly, especially if those repeated motions include lifting or lowering
heavy objects. In order to avoid an overextension injury, be sure to give
yourself a healthy number of breaks throughout the workday and use proper
form when bending, lifting, and moving heavy items.
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Harm by Workplace Equipment: A quarter of all workplace injuries occur when contact with workplace
objects causes harm to an employee. This can happy any number of ways,
but it often occurs when employees are crushed under falling structures
or equipment, struck by a moving piece of machinery or falling object,
or are somehow caught in a machine. Using protective gear and practicing
constant awareness of any machinery in your workplace, especially machinery
with heavy, moving parts.
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Falls: Whether you slip on the floor, trip down a flight of stairs, fall off
a structure, or experience any other sort of workplace fall, it can cause
great physical damage. If a fall is serious enough, it can limit your
ability to work for years to come. Avoid slips, trips, and falls by wearing
shoes that are appropriate for your work environment, maintaining constant
awareness of your walkways and surroundings, and making sure your work
area is secured.
Serious injuries can occur in any line of work, but most commonly occur
in construction, service, manufacturing, transportation, and maintenance
jobs. However, workers in any environment are at risk of sustaining a
wide variety of injuries and should exercise equal caution when navigating
the workplace.
If you have been injured on the job, get an experienced Greenwich
personal injury attorney on your side right away, no matter your profession or the circumstances
of your workplace accident. At Ivey Barnum & O’Mara, we are
committed to getting you the best outcome possible in your personal injury case.
Contact us
at (207) 718-4002 or fill out our online form to schedule a free case consultation today.