The Most Serious Workplace Injuries And Illnesses

No matter how safe a workplace is, there is always a risk of injury or illness that a person may suffer. And unfortunately, it is not at all uncommon for a workplace’s safety standards to fall victim to the negligence of an owner, leading to said injuries and illnesses. Some illnesses and injuries are worse than others, however, and will have a greater impact on a person’s wellness and ability to work as a result. Today, we will discuss some of the most serious workplace injuries and illnesses, so you will know what to do if you have suffered from them.

Analyzing the most serious workplace injuries and illnesses

Depending on the type of business you work for, you are going to run different risks. For example, a person employed at McDonald’s is a lot more likely to suffer from burns from the fryers and grills than an office worker is to sustain burns from the coffee machine (though it can still happen!). Meanwhile, a job that involves a lot of hauling heavy objects, its workers has to worry about potential injuries from that.

First off, let’s talk about burns. Burns have a range of potential harm incurred; some burns are only minor and surface level, and not at all debilitating. These kinds of burns are usually treatable just with whatever first aid kit that your employer is mandated to have on-site. However, other burns may be significantly more serious, and can even be fatal if the burns are bad enough, especially if they are not adequately and quickly treated. That would certainly escalate things beyond just being a workers compensation issue and into a wrongful death one. In order to avoid burns on the workplace, proper training must be done, and any measures possible to avoid the burns must be taken, within reason.

Slipping and tripping is also a serious concern, and like burns, there is no doubt that you understand how a slip, or a trip could lead to pretty serious workplace injuries. Slipping or tripping can result in nothing of any significance, though being that people have reduced control once they’ve done either, it is harder for them to ensure that it does not get worse than that. For instance, someone could sprain an ankle, or perhaps sprain a wrist if they are forced to catch themselves upon falling. The fall is often one of the worst parts of a slip or a trip. A fall is, obviously, going to cause more harm depending on how far down a person falls, as well as the circumstances of the fall. For instance, gently falling to the ground is not likely to be very serious for most people, and a relatively hazard-free environment may produce reduced harm. Falls get exponentially worse, however, when they occur from a height. Any business that requires employees to deal with perilous situations, or even if an employee is asked to climb a ladder, should take great pains to ensure that not only are its employees trained and approved to deal with these situations, but also that they are given the proper equipment to do so as well. They also have to ensure that areas workers are expected to navigate are unobstructed and that any hazards are dealt with as quickly as possible.

One thing that one may overlook is the risk of exhaustion and overexertion. These can, and often do, create a lot of injuries and illnesses, and unfortunately in a lot of cases, do not have much done to help mitigate them from occurring. After all, exhaustion and overexertion are a fairly invisible ailment that people face, and fairly difficult to detect if you are not looking out for it. It can even bite the people suffering from it in the butt, as they may push themselves too hard without realizing that they are. This can be especially commonplace if the work-life balance imposed on workers is not sufficient to match both your mental and physical health needs. Much like how your employer has an obligation to avoid direct physical injuries, they also have an obligation to make sure that you are only given the amount of work that you can reasonably accomplish in the time frame allotted.

There is also a type of life-threatening situation that can happen in any kind of workplace – someone’s heart can stop. This could happen for many reasons and it should be mandatory to have at least one person on the team CPR trained and certified. There should be an AED machine present on the company ground as well. These two things could save a life before the ambulance arrives.

In many workplace environments, one has to be cautious that they do not have a negative interaction with potentially dangerous equipment. This includes heavy machinery, such as a vehicle, winch, and other machines, and the damages can vary depending on the circumstances of the injury. Some people may only experience minor injuries from such an impact, especially if the object is not moving, and instead it is the result of someone simply running into it themselves. However, moving machinery can create a pretty dire situation, all things considered. For instance, a mechanical arm in a factory that moves and winds up pinching or crushing someone between it and something else. These things can put in quite a lot of pressure, and the damage can be rather significant. Any employer who fails to do an adequate job to ensure that this kind of injury, as well as any of the other injuries discussed or not discussed in this article, is not adequately prepared for may not only have to grant victims of those injuries workers compensation, but they may also see themselves in trouble for the sheer negligence of it all. If an employer has engaged in gross negligence, or if they are even trying to deny you compensation, you should absolutely consult with a work Injury Lawyer as soon as you can.