It’s unfortunately not uncommon at all for people to get hurt at work. Every year, almost 3 million Americans suffer workplace injuries and illnesses that stick them on the sidelines for at least a few days.
People get hurt while working at all kinds of different jobs, too. From office workers to warehouse employees, it seems no one is safe from work injuries.
You should make sure that you’re well aware of what the most common workplace injuries are. You might be able to avoid sustaining work injuries by educating yourself more about them.
Today, we’re going to take a closer look at some of the different workplace injuries that people have suffered over the years. Continue reading to find out how most people are injured at work.
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Slip and Fall Accidents
Slip and fall accidents are easily some of the most prevalent workplace accidents around. They cause a good portion of the most common workplace injuries.
Every single day, people who work in offices, warehouses, and other settings slip and fall on wet floors and do significant damage to their bodies. It’s not out of the ordinary for those who slip and fall in the workplace to hurt their:
- Head
- Neck
- Back
- Arms
- Legs
- Hands
- Feet
If you’re ever in a slip and fall accident, there is a decent chance that you’re going to have to miss at least a little bit of time at work. You might want to get in touch with a workers compensation attorney after a workplace injury and ask them to help you make a full recovery from your injuries.
Falls From Great Heights
There are quite a few jobs that call for people to climb up on ladders and park themselves on top of homes and buildings in order to get their work done. Some of these people end up falling from great heights and hurting themselves badly in the process.
It’s very important for those who work high up in the sky to be very careful while they’re doing it. But even if they do, there is still always going to be a chance that they could fall and get hurt or potentially even killed depending on how high up they were.
Those in the construction industry, in particular, have to be very mindful about staying safe when they’re working up off the ground. They could fall at any moment and suffer one of the most common workplace injuries, like a head injury or a set of broken bones.
Getting Hit by Moving Objects
If you work in a warehouse or spend your days on construction sites, you’re going to want to wear a hard hat at all times for the most part. Reason being, you’re going to be surrounded by things that could fall at any moment and put you into harm’s way.
In the event that something falls in your warehouse or on your construction site and you’re not wearing a hard hat, it could hit you in the head and knock you unconscious. It could also cause a traumatic brain injury in some cases that could do long-term damage to you and put you out of work for an extended period of time.
Even if your employer doesn’t tell you that you have to wear a hard hat while you’re on the job, it would still be smart to do it if there is any chance that objects could fall from the sky and land on you.
Overexertion
There are some jobs out there that have people doing a whole lot of heavy lifting day in and day out. Your body will, to some degree, get used to all this heavy lifting over time, but it could also get worn out over time if you don’t take it easy every so often.
Overexertion is something that often affects those who put their bodies through hell while they’re working hard. It can cause them to suffer some common workplace injuries like:
- Pulled muscles
- Strained tendons
- Torn ligaments
You might also find yourself dealing with joint issues and possibly even chronic pain if you continue to push your body to its limits every day. You’re going to need to give your body breaks every now and then throughout the day and get plenty of rest at night so that your body can recover from overexertion.
Repetitive Motion Injuries
Do you tend to use the same motions over and over and over again every day while you’re at work? Whether you’re working on the line at a factory and making the same movements repeatedly or sitting down at a desk in an office and typing all day long, these repetitive motions can do more damage than you might think.
There are a handful of repetitive motion injuries that people can sustain when their bodies get into the habit of making the same movements each day. Carpal tunnel syndrome is a big one that you’re going to want to try to avoid.
In theory, you might not think that you’re going to get injured at work if you’re sitting down all day or doing a job that doesn’t require you to move around much. But jobs like this can be every bit as dangerous to your body as some of the more intense jobs that are out there.
Motor Vehicle Accidents
Every year, there are about 3 million people who suffer injuries during motor vehicle accidents throughout the country. At least some of them are people who are injured while driving a car, truck, or SUV for work.
Most businesses will go out of their way to try and stress the importance of driver safety to their employees. They’ll encourage those who work for them to slow down while they’re behind the wheel and do everything in their power to avoid getting into accidents.
But that doesn’t eliminate the inherent risk that comes with climbing into a car. There are still thousands of people injured while driving around in their work vehicles each year, and they suffer a wide range of common workplace injuries because of it.
Electrocutions
There are plenty of jobs that call for people to work around live electrical wires. Electricians obviously fall into this category, but so do many of the people who work in plants, factories, warehouses, and more.
There are even many people in the construction industry who are often asked to dig down into the ground where they could encounter electrical wiring. It’s why everyone needs to be very careful about how they handle being around electricity since it could lead to electrocutions.
The good news is that there aren’t that many people who suffer electrocutions while on the job. But those who do are usually either injured very badly or killed after coming into contact with electricity while at work.
Entanglements
Many jobs have people spending a good chunk of their time around heavy machinery. And any time that a person is working near heavy machinery, there is a chance that their clothing, their hair, their jewelry, or something else could get entangled in it and cause issues.
Entanglements can be very dangerous, too. If a person isn’t able to pull their clothing, hair, jewelry, etc. out of a heavy machine, it could lead to:
- Broken bones
- Lost limbs
- And even death
It’s very important for you to steer clear of these common workplace injuries by wearing the right attire if you’re forced to be around heavy machinery. It’s also very important for you to take the right safety precautions all the time.
Violence in the Workplace
As if all of the common workplace injuries that we’ve talked about already weren’t enough, violence in the workplace has also gone up in recent years and added one more concern to the mix for people. There is no telling when or where workplace violence will take place, but it could be detrimental to you and your coworkers.
There are stories involving workplace violence in the news on an almost weekly basis at this point. It has some people worrying about being hurt at work as a direct result of this violence.
You shouldn’t let the threat of workplace violence impact you too much. But you should be aware of the possibility of it and know what to do if it ever breaks out while you’re at work.
Avoid These Common Workplace Injuries at All Costs
If you spend enough time working throughout the course of your life, you’re probably going to be subjected to at least one or two of the most common workplace injuries. It’s not possible to eliminate all the risks associated with some jobs.
But you should make it your mission to avoid as many of these injuries as you can. By following your company’s safety rules and regulations and being aware of your surroundings at all times, you should be able to lower the chances of you getting injured at work.
Find more health and wellness tips by reading through the other articles on our blog.
