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.
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.
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