When Life Deals You a Bad Hand: 8 Most Common Workplace Injuries

Most people expect to come home every day, change their clothes, make some dinner, or maybe pour a glass of wine. For the most part, leaving work means heading home and taking care of your responsibilities, enjoying some downtime, or hanging out with your kids.

However, for a number of people, this sadly isn’t the case. Depending on the type of work one does, there’s a real chance that an accident during the day won’t lead to a mistyped report or typo-ridden email, but serious injury or even death. Obviously, some injuries are more severe than others--and are often the fault of different people. In the case that a workplace-based error was the result, it’s always a good idea to speak to a personal injury lawyer.

Overexertion

The most frequent workplace injury happens with overexertion. Especially in jobs that require heavy lifting, pushing, or pulling, muscle exertion can become both common, and dangerous. Jobs that work in warehouses, manufacturing, or other labor-intensive jobs are particularly prone, and pose the most risk.

Slips

Another common injury is slipping or tripping. Restaurant workers, for example, always have to wear specific non-slip, highly gripping shoes in order to limit the chance of slipping on squeaky clean kitchen floors. If this rule isn’t followed, there’s a high chance of slipping or tripping, which can potentially be quite dangerous and painful. Pulled muscles, bruises, or cuts from hitting other objects during the fall can definitely hurt.

Strains and Pulled Muscles

Similar to slipping or tripping is a reaction to something that doesn’t cause falling, but does cause a muscle strain or pull. For example, something akin to when you almost slip on ice, but catch your balance. Generally, the difficulty of regaining your balance results in a deep pull a leg or side muscle. While seemingly less dangerous, these reactions can be quite painful and uncomfortable.

Impact Injuries

Being hit by falling objects--or walking into objects--is another common injury. When people are working on different levels, there is always a possibility of things toppling down. And, regardless of the type of things that are present in the office, there’s every possibility that someone could--and likely will--walk into it, causing cuts, lacerations, bruises, or other minor injuries.

Fume Inhalation

Also common is inhaling some kind of fume. With people working in painting, construction, or finishing, inhaling fumes can cause lung problems, headaches, or other issues. Toxic fumes are not always the problem, but of course, they can be the worst, as they cause more than just minor irritation.

Falling from Height

Falling from a high place is less likely, due mostly to the number of workers who do jobs where they are required to be high up. Construction workers are generally the most at-risk, as they are likely to stand on scaffolding while building walls or other structures. 

Altercation Injuries

Other workplace injuries that can be dangerous include violent attacks by disgruntled employees or altercations between aggressive workers. While significantly less common than those listed above, they do exist and make up a portion of workplace injuries.

Repetitive Movement Injuries

Any job that requires you to make similar movements over and over can cause injuries over time. These are often seen in factory jobs where line workers use the same motions repeatedly throughout the day. Another common repetitive movement injury is the carpal tunnel syndrome that office workers often deal with.

No matter which injury occurs, it’s the responsibility of the employer to provide a safe, comfortable environment for their employees, with clear and reasonable rules. Of course, it’s also the responsibility of the employee to abide by the rules in order to create a space that is safe for everyone involved.