Avoiding an accident is likely not the first thing you think about when you go to work every morning. But workplace accidents are a reality we all need to live with if we want to stay safe.
Whether you work in a factory, car dealership, or library, an accident is always possible. And, it’s not always your fault. When it happens, you need to be aware of what you can do next.
If you find yourself a victim of an accident inside your workplace, be sure to reach out to Dante Law Firm, P.A.
We’re a top law firm serving the Miami area with over 20 years of experience. Personal injury lawsuits are our specialty, and we make sure to offer our services to communities left behind by many other firms. The team at Dante Law even provides aid to those speaking English, Spanish, and Kreyol!
Perhaps, most importantly: we care about your wellbeing. That’s why we put together this comprehensive list of the top 5 most common workplace accidents and what you can do to help yourself:
Did you know that almost 5,000 workers are killed on the job each year?
This is shocking, especially knowing that minority workers make up almost a thousand of those deaths on a yearly basis.
It’s true that sometimes accidents do happen, but each incident leaves an entire family grieving and left to figure out what to do with the death or injury of their loved one.
These accidents can happen as a result of worker and environmental negligence. In cases where the environment is at fault, employers and other workers may have taken shortcuts, leaving another person vulnerable to injury.
If not through an environmental safety issue, or a worker misstep, workplace violence is also another cause of injury. The U.S Department of Labor reports that over two million people are injured through workplace violence each year. Let that statistic sink in.
Sometimes, these “shortcuts” are taken to save money or avoid fixing a looming, expensive problem. Nevertheless, workers need to know how to get the compensation and justice they deserve after an accident.
As personal injury lawyers, we like to keep our community updated and aware of the things they should look out for and avoid to prevent an injury on the job.
Always avoiding an accident, of course, isn’t always possible. That’s why we’re here to defend you if that time comes.
In the meantime, we’ve put together a guide of the five most common injuries that could happen to you.
Injuries from overexertion are all too common in the workplace. We can see similar types of injuries in people who go to the gym and lift heavy weights.
Once you grow tired, your body doesn’t maintain the proper form when you lift and move heavy objects. For more labor-intensive jobs, where long hours are part of the job, workers are prone to these problems.
Not only is overexertion the most common cause of workplace injury, it is also the most costly! Around 9 billion dollars are spent each year over overexertion injuries, making it more expensive than all of the other common injuries.
These injuries happen from heavy lifting, pushing, pulling, or throwing large objects. When a worker spends most of their day moving around, it’s common for them to think that back pain is just a part of the deal. However, these aches and pains should be something you pay close attention to!
If the first thing you thought of when you read “workplace injuries” is slipping and falling, you’d be on the right track.
Injuries from slipping and falling on the job are the second most common workplace accident out there.
Sometimes we can be clumsy and trip on seemingly nothing, but in the workplace things like wet floors or objects dropped and left behind can all result in injury.
In the US, over 8 million fall injuries end with hospital visits each year. And these injuries count for about 15% of all workers compensation claims.
You can do everything right as far as procedure goes. You can even be extra careful to look where you’re walking to make sure that there’s nothing to trip on. But what happens when a coworker loses it and becomes violent?
Though some cases of workplace violence stem from withstanding problems between the two coworkers, there is no excuse for violence in the workplace.
Of the 20 million victims of workplace violence that happen every year over 1,000 of those incidents result in death.
As a whole, good employee training and problem management can prevent these accidents from happening if employers are diligent with their training programs.
When there are no, few, or unclear safety procedures in a workplace, it’s an invitation for injury to occur.
Why? Because safety procedures are there to make sure that everyone remains safe in complex work environments. Even those who work in seemingly “safe” places like libraries or offices must follow safety procedures.
Some of the most devastating and common workplace accidents occur as a result of faulty interactions with machines or vehicles.
An older study shows that there were over 34,000 non-fatal injuries on the job as a result of machines or vehicles. Around 189 people had fatal accidents from machinery and vehicles at work during those years of 1992 until 1997.
To prevent workplace injury, it’s every worker’s responsibility to be aware of their environment and ask questions about the safety procedures that are in place at their job.
Sticking to those procedures and paying attention to any aches and pains you experience are other ways to prevent injury or monitor an ongoing situation.
If you find yourself injured, find a law firm specializing in personal and workplace injury to aid you. Getting information is never a bad thing, and us at Dante Law are always glad to help our clients gather all the facts they need to decide what their next step is!
For more info, check out our blog or contact us. We love providing resources to help people in the Miami community prevent and recover from personal injuries.
(954) 365-0000