You are here: DIME Home > Business > Work injuries: top 5 most common causes

Work injuries: top 5 most common causes

The main causes of work injuries are those related to lack of attention and irresponsible behaviors. Therefore, the basis of every work safety policy needs to be on personnel training and ongoing control of procedures and equipment.

Author: Alba
Date: Mar 27, 2012 - 11:10:30 AM

Printer friendly page

Every job has its peculiarities, risks and regulations to best protect workers according to the specific activities they have to perform in their work setting, but a recent study based on European data shows how, actually, most of the accidents that happen in the work environment can be attributed to general causes and behaviors not exclusive to one or another occupation.

If that is the case, work safety measures and basic responsibility conduct should be at the core of every work security strategy, at least regarding the “accidents” category, that is, the events that result in immediate injuries or even death.

The distinction is important because not only accidents are a threat to workers. Since they are exposed in the long term to certain element of their jobs that can damage their health such as chemicals. Although the effects are not immediate, and that all work is inevitably correlated to a certain amount of stress, workplace safety measures should be and are aimed at protecting employees from this eventualities too.

As for the accidents that cause immediate damage, which are the focus of the statistics published in this report, it is clear that it is not enough to implement plans for adaptation of the work environment and procedures but it is also essential to train employees and make them aware of the real consequences that careless or irresponsible behaviors can have. 

The most common causes of work injuries are slips and trips, falls caused by wet floors or obstacles in transition areas, but most importantly loss of control over equipment, machinery or vehicles. These range from injuries caused by slicers in restaurants and butcher shops to crane driving and heavy load handling: it is, therefore, a source of risk that extends across many industries and for which constant monitoring of machinery and careful usage are essential. A Eurostat study published in 2006 already showed that loss of control over work tools and equipment is the most common cause for deathly incidents at work with a percentage of 41% over the total of fatal accidents.

The most frequent injuries are muscular ones, caused by handling of heavy weights, even in contexts where this activity is not correlated to the task, such as an office. Second place goes to back injuries, to which contribute uncomfortable positions in the work station and headaches due to falling objects and hitting.

A separate category of work incidents is that of accidents occurred while commuting, driving or travelling to and from the workplace. Although they represent a smaller percentage of the total number of accidents at work, it is one of the few departments that registers growth, against the general trend of decreasing work injuries.

Training is therefore fundamental. Conscientiousness from the employee and the employer’s part to guarantee that no matter what the deadline or the physical state, safety is the most important asset for the worker and for the company.

Written by Alba L with support from Protezione Vicenza.
Visit incidente sul lavoro or amministrazione indennita lutto for further details.
Prima Posizione Srl - strategic positioning

View all articles by Alba

Link to this article:

Follow & Share Your Favorite Video Articles

Tell a Friend About This Site

Tweet about this site

Follow @dimeco

Recommended Associates

Do you write?

Would you like submit your articles and have them approved on a priority status? Find out more about how you can become a Priority author for pennies a day! Click here.