It is no surprise that workers in an industrial setting face numerous challenges on nearly every shift. From mishaps involving heavy machinery to vehicle accidents, these workers can suffer debilitating, life-long injuries that can impact the entire family.
While the factors that can lead to a workplace injury might be numerous, there are four causes that seem to be more common than others.
- Lifting: Whether it is the result of a single lifting incident or the result of years of repetitive lifting stress, muscles are prone to sprain, strain or tearing. Additionally, ligament, tendon or other joint damage can be traced to heavy lifting.
- Fatigue: Numerous workplace accidents each year can be traced back to workers fighting through fatigue. Not allowing themselves to adequately recover from difficult manual labor can result in strained muscles and general exhaustion. Failing to take a 10-minute break while working on a heavy industrial press can lead to dulled senses and slowed reaction time.
- Dehydration: Failing to stay properly hydrated during the summer months can lead to devastating conditions such as heat stroke. Having said that, a worker who doesn’t take occasional water breaks is in danger of dehydration even on a cool day.
- Hazardous materials: Nearly every workplace will contain some sort of hazardous material. These can be seemingly innocuous items such as cleaning supplies or as dangerous as asbestos fibers. Workers must be given not only the proper safety gear but also the necessary education to keep themselves out of harm’s way. From respirators to access to a Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS), employers need to keep workers safe.
Additional sources of injury can include stress, acts of workplace violence and trips and falls.
A serious workplace accident can result in lasting challenges. From chronic pain to a crush injury to the loss of a limb, both workers and their families must be prepared to seek the guidance of not only a medical professional but also a legal professional.