Most Common Causes of Workplace Injuries

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that 2.9 million workplace injuries took place in 2015 – that’s 3 incidents for every 100 full time workers. With that many employees getting hurt, it’s clear that you don’t need to have an inherently dangerous job to get injured at work. Even an office environment contains hazards that can cause pain or injury – like heavy file boxes and repetitive tasks such as typing.

So what are the most common ways that workers get hurt on the job?

Overexertion and Other Exertions

Not surprisingly, injuries caused by workers’ bodies moving in a certain way are the leading cause of injury. The overexertion category includes injuries caused by lifting, pushing, pulling, holding, carrying or throwing objects. The “other exertions” category covers bodily injuries caused by movements that don’t necessarily involve trying to transport an object – bending, crawling, reaching, twisting, climbing, stepping, kneeling, sitting, standing or walking.

Falls

Falls can include incidents like slips and falls on ice, snow or slippery indoor surfaces but also workers who fall from heights or from one level of a worksite to another.  In certain states cold weather related slips and falls account for a third of all workers comp claims.

Injuries Caused by Machinery and Other Objects

This category of injuries includes incidents involving

• Workers being struck by falling equipment or other objects.
• Workers being caught up in or compressed by machinery or equipment.
• Workers having moving objects at the workplace collide with them.
• Workers running into or otherwise colliding with a stationary object.

These are the types of injuries that can happen in both industrial and office environments.

Road/Vehicle Incidents

Any job that involves workers using vehicles -- or working in close proximity to moving vehicles -- has a high risk of injury. Many of the injuries in this category involve workers injured as pedestrians on worksites with certain jobs being particularly prone to road and vehicle-related injuries:

• Construction
• Road and highway maintenance.
• Truck drivers.
• Supervisors of construction and mining workers.

Repetitive Motions

Muscle and tendon injuries can occur when a job involves hours of repetitive motion that strains and overuses part of a worker’s body – like typing or operating a single piece of machinery or equipment. This is a category of workplace injury that affects office workers as frequently as blue collar laborers.

About Levine Law

A Colorado Springs workers' compensation attorney can help you if you’ve been injured on the job. At Levine Law we have 20+ years of experience handling workers comp claims in Colorado. We can deal with all of the forms and filing deadlines and, most importantly, get you the medical treatment and compensation you deserve. Our goal is to make sure that you are fully compensated for your injuries and our no/win, no/fee policy means that you pay nothing to Levine Law unless you receive compensation.