While most people don’t think about the possibility, anyone may experience a serious workplace injury at any given time. Some of these injuries can cause permanent damage to your body, which is why you need to know how to avoid them when you’re faced with a situation where you could get injured. Here are the most common types of workplace injuries that you’ll want to look out for.
Touching/Inhaling Harmful Substances
Coal miners know this all too well, inhaling harmful materials can cause lung damage that leads to several other serious diseases. This also applies to anyone working with any material that’s harmful to the touch, as direct exposure to bare skin can cause serious damage. Wearing protective material along with a mask to protect your skin and your lungs from these materials is often made mandatory by the law to protect workers from these workplace injuries.
Cuts & Scrapes
While working in construction sites, it’s fairly common to be exposed to sharp objects that can cause deep cuts in the skin. Watching out for these objects can be tricky if they’re barely visible, so wearing protective boots along with the right protective equipment for your legs, body, and head can prevent any cuts that cause scarring in the future.
Hearing Loss
Working in a workplace that has very loud sounds without protective earmuffs can cause a variety of different types of damage to your hearing abilities. Sometimes, people develop a disease called tinnitus because of loud noises, which causes them to hear constant loud ringing that increases with more exposure to loud noises. Make sure you inform your supervisor about the possibility of hearing damage if you’re working in a loud site without protective equipment.
Burns
While this may be an uncommon occurrence in most workplaces, it’s still a possibility for those who work with flammable objects or heat. People working in places with a high possibility of burn injuries like kitchens, kilns, and chemical labs must know the basics of treating burns in case they encounter a situation where they need to treat either themselves or someone they work with. This also applies to anyone who works with high-temperature materials or places with high voltage, as those can cause severe skin burns as well.
Slips & Falls
Watching your step around slippery areas isn’t always enough when you’re in your workplace. Sometimes, tripping on objects can cause major injuries throughout the body if you’re not wearing protective equipment. Working on a site at a dangerous height can also be very risky as one fall can land you in the hospital for quite a while. This is one of the most common injuries found in the workplace, and preventing it can be quite difficult, even while wearing safety gear.
Injuries Caused By Heavy Machinery
A malfunctioning heavy machine can cause one of the most grotesque injuries known to any workplace. These injuries are mostly caused by the lack of supervision or loss of control over the machinery. Luckily, newly invented machines have excellent sensors that can detect and prevent collision with human skin, however, wearing protective gear is still essential when working in places that contain these machines.
Staying safe while on the job should be your number one priority, and if you feel like your supervisor isn’t guaranteeing that, then you have the right to demand more safety protocols to be enforced. If your supervisor still insists on not taking any safety measures, you have the right to contact an attorney to make a formal claim against the company that’s placing you and the rest of your coworkers in harm’s way.
