Common workplace injury types

By: Robert Palmer | Posted: 08th September 2008

The most common types of workplace injuries
According to recent reports the tops five types of workplace injuries are as follows.

Falls from standing
One of the first things that pops into your head when talking about accidents at work will be trips and slips. Everyone has had a minor slip, whether it has been on a slippery pavement or over a box on the floor. So it is not hard to imagine that these are one of the biggest causes of injuries in the workplace. Business should make sure all surfaces are free of holes and tripping hazards. By coincidence, while writing this blog post, and handyman is walking around our office fixing our carpet tiles. Trips and slips can also be avoided by making sure that all spillages are cleared up and highlighted with signs. Poor lighting conditions can also cause people to trip over random objects.

Overexertion
We have all heard the correct lifting technique, keep your back straight and bend your knees while lifting. Well it is surprising the amount of people who will ignore this and just life heavy objects any old way. Tips to avoid these types of injury are correct training for staff members, teach them how to lift properly and ask for help if something is too heavy. If items in the workplace are seriously heavy, then mechanical lifting aids should be used to avoid injury and make the task easier.

Falls from a height.
These are injuries where people fall from equipment such as ladders and other apparatus that elevates them from the ground. The main cause of these falls is faulty equipment. When dealing with heights, equipment should be routinely checked to safety approved standards as we are not only talking about minor injuries, they have been known to cause death as well. These types of injuries also included people slipping down stairs and walkways, these can be avoided by using slip resistant treads, handrails and appropriate lighting.

Struck by an object
The fourth common workplace injury type on our list is employees being struck by objects. These injuries are more common in warehouse type settings where overhead storage is used or on building sites. To avoid accident compensation claims being made against them, employers need to ensure machinery operators are fully trained in using machinery that carries objects that could fall on people. Areas underneath storage and machinery should be restricted so that personal shouldn't be at risk in the first place. Finally all machinery should be used as the manufacturers have specified with all the safety features and guards working as should be.


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Tags: coincidence, holes, handyman, knees, staff members, accidents, pavement, minor injuries, stairs, pops, workplace injury, slips, walkways, workplace injuries, faulty equipment, carpet tiles