Vocation Injuries – Being Hurt on the Job

Serious injuries occurring in the workplace are common occurrences. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than 4,400 workers died in job-related incidents in 2016 and millions more suffered severe, but non-fatal injuries. Each day in the US, more than a dozen individuals head off to work, never to return home that evening. Within the next year, more than 3 million individuals will suffer some injury in the workplace so severe that they will likely never recover.

While most injuries occurring on the job are non-fatal, the harm will not only involve physical and emotional pain but cause the employee to take time away from work while the employee recovers. Data shows that most injuries occurring at work involve sprains, strains, muscle tears, puncture wounds, lacerations, cuts, soreness, and bone fractures. The most dangerous events that lead to serious injuries, death and extensive time away from work involved falling, slipping, tripping, exposure to hazardous environments and substances, explosions, fires, and violence.

Common Workplace Injuries

Usually, the extent of injury a worker suffers on the job correlates directly with the type of industry and company where the employee works. Office workers are at risk of injuries that tend to be different than food and meat processor workers, assembly-line employees, construction workers and others. The most common types of injuries occurring on the job include:

• Overexertion Injury – Working long hours, working fatigues, and overexertion with lifting, pulling, holding, carrying, pushing, or throwing cause the most injuries on the job.


• Slip, Trip and Fall – Injuries caused by slipping, tripping and falling rank second in causing the most harm at work.


• Car or Truck Accident – Being involved in a crash while driving the company car or truck is fatal for hundreds of workers every year and wounds hundreds of thousands of other employees.


• Repetitive Motion Injury – This type of injury is often slow to present itself where a less obvious RMI (Repetitive Motion Injury) occurs to many in the workplace. These injuries involve chronic back pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, and extensive nerve damage to the shoulder, elbow, arm, hand, and wrists.


• Walking Injury – Walking into doors, cabinets, tables, glass windows, low ceilings and other objects are the cause of many work-related injuries to the head, knees, foot, and neck.


• Falling Object – Being struck by a falling object that slipped from a shelf or was dropped by others can cause very severe injuries. Workers must be provided PPE (Personal Protection Equipment) when working in hazardous conditions. Employees are required to provide every worker as safe an environment as possible.


• Falling from Great Height – Workers that fall from ladders, rooftops, and stairways can suffer severe injuries. To minimize harm, the employee should use PPE (Personal Protection Equipment) gear and receive adequate training on how to remain safe at work.


• Equipment Entanglement – Some occupations require the worker to stand close to heavy moving machinery and equipment that could cause entanglement with their hair, fingers, and clothing.


• Shortcuts – Taking a shortcut to get the job done quickly is a frequent practice that can become lethal when working around hazardous chemicals, dangerous machinery, unsafe tool, or driving.


• Overconfidence – While employers often praise their workers for an elevated level of confidence and getting the job done, being overly confident can be extremely dangerous when using the wrong tools or following incorrect methods, processes and procedures.


• Mental Distractions – Allowing personal feelings, office politics or on-the-job arguments to affect performance at work can create a dangerous situation when a wrong turn or movement causes an accident with injuries.


• Neglecting Safety Procedures – It is crucial for every employee and visitor to follow every safety procedure to avoid endangering yourself and others at work.


• Job-Related Violence – Domestic problems, worker-to-worker arguments, office politics and other disruptions in the workplace can lead to serious job-related violent acts that result in physical injury and death.

Not every job-related incident or accident that harms or kills the worker occurs quickly. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, approximately 50,000 workers die every year from job-related problems. Many are killed from acute illnesses caused by exposure to hazardous chemicals and unsafe working conditions while others are injured or die from long-term exposure to job-related hazards like asbestos.

Most of the accidents that leave workers with severe injuries or dead were not the result of an ignorant or careless action of the employee nor by a lack of government standards or greedy employers. However, it is the employer’s responsibility to ensure that every employee receives effective safety and health training and is properly supervised when given access to dangerous equipment, hazardous environments, and unsafe work-related scenarios.

Hiring an Attorney to Represent You After Work-Related Accident

Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers is proud to represent men and women injured in the course of their employment. Our law firm has experience representing people injured while working on the job in professions of all types.

Having an understanding of specific industries allows gives our lawyers insights into how your case may have happened and anticipate defenses. We represent injured workers in both workers compensation and third-party lawsuits involving companies, property owners and manufacturers. If you or a family member was injured while working, we invite you to contact our office for a free review of your legal options for recovery.

Sources:

• https://www.bls.gov/iif/oshcdnew.htm
• https://www.bls.gov/news.release/archives/osh_11092017.pdf