The last thing any of us think about when we arrive at the office is that we’ll be leaving in an ambulance that day. It isn’t natural for us to think about the risks of working for a living, none of us want to live in fear, we just want to get on with our work.
Fair enough, but building your awareness of what could go wrong at work might just keep you out of a sticky situation you could have avoided. Here’s the top 10 things that can go wrong in the workplace. Some of them have minor consequences for our career and health, and some are life-changing injuries.
#1 Slip and Fall Injuries
Topping the list are slip and falls. These are the most common workplace injury across all industry sectors. Whether you’re working at the local 7-Eleven and slip on a freshly mopped floor while carrying stock to the shelves, or if you’re a construction worker and slip on a slick surface on-site, all it takes is one wrong move and no warning signs around the area, and you’re calling for emergency services.
#2 Struck by Moving Objects
Imagine you’re stocking tools at the local hardware, it’s your day off – and you shouldn’t even be here today. Your lack of focus causes you to miss the shelf, and the box of tools smacks you in the face. Hazards like moving vehicles can run you down, or machinery like a gang tree could strike you in the head when you’re not paying attention. These injuries could leave you with a minor lumps and bumps, or they could leave you in a wheelchair.
#3 Falls from Heights
Most of us aren’t like Alex Hommel – we can’t stand heights, let alone the thought of falling from them. But hundreds of American workers experience this nightmare become a stark reality, and it’s not falling from El Capitan when you’re free-climbing with Hommel, it’s something as low as falling off a loading dock and breaking a leg – to the worst-case scenario of falling off a skyscraper construction site on the 50th floor – to your death.
#4 Overexertion on the Job
All of us with any work ethic understand that sometimes you have to give a project a little extra attention to see excellent results. We’re willing to go the extra mile for that end of year bonus, right? But none of us are willing to push things so hard we end up developing chronic stress or pulled muscles. Throwing out your back in the workplace could leave you lying in bed for weeks, and what will you do about the lost income you’re missing out on while you’re lying flat on your back all day?
#5 Stationary Object Strikes
Sometimes, employees leave machinery or objects lying around where they shouldn’t be. For managers and employers, it can feel like the kids haven’t put their toys away. Unfortunately, the consequences of this behavior in the workplace don’t mean that dads just stepping on juniors Lego blocks – it means that Sam, gets stuck by a 2,0000-lb crane that may injure him severely, sending him to the hospital – or worse yet, the morgue. Proper training and workplace risk management can mitigate these risks, but it doesn’t rule them out of the picture entirely.
#6 Repetitive Motion Injuries
You’ve spent the last 20 years of your career working on a keyboard and flexing a mouse with your wrist. Now you’re wondering why you’re coming down with a wicked case of carpal tunnel syndrome and myopathy in your shoulders that leaves you begging your husband for a neck massage every night. These types of repetitive injuries happen to all types of employees, from the average Jane in the office, to the most rugged men in mining operations. These injuries have lasting complications on your health and can impair mobility now, and even more so in your later life.
#7 Electrocution
We’ve all experienced a moment when a friend or sibling reached out to us and gave us a burst of static that shocks us. This harmless event is surprising, but funny – and no-0one gets hurt. Unfortunately, that’s not the case for workplace electrocutions. Offices, factories, and construction sites often run on “three-phase power,” and that kind of current carries a significant wallop. If you take an electrocution on the job, you might not make it out of the emergency room. It’s a sad reality for more than 140+ American workers every year.
#8 Equipment Traps
Some of us will never forget the mentally scarring event of the TikTok algorithm serving us a clip of a horrific workplace entrapment injury. Being pulled into a machine can have terrifying injuries that maim and kill American workers. It’s a surprising common injury, especially in manufacturing and production sectors of the economy. Crushed bones, lost limbs or fingers – you get the picture, we don’t need to carry on. That’s why personal protective equipment like boots, goggles and other PPE is such an important of health and safety in these industrial workplace environments.
#9 Workplace Violence
The reality of living and working in America is that workplace violence continues to rear its ugly head in states across the country. Employees need training on managing active shooter situations, and how to deal with disgruntled employees who threaten violence to their colleagues. These crisis situations can lead to severe injuries, emotional trauma, and even loss of life.
#10 Vehicular Accidents
You’re on the job sitting in the office when your boss calls your colleague Jeff and asks him to take a package to a customer. Not part of Jeff’s job, yet he wants to help out. Too bad for Jeff, he ended up in a car wreck and now he has $2,000 of medical bills piling up from his act of good will. Who’s liable for the loss of income and expenses?
What to Do If You’ve Been Injured on the Job?
If you are the unfortunate victim of one of these ten workplace injuries, our heart goes out to you. But know that you need not struggle through the outcome yourself. All it takes is a phone call to a competent attorney specializing in workplace injuries. You’ll recover any income that has been lost, make sure you get the compensation you deserve, and bring your mind to rest.
You are well within your rights to file either workers’ compensation benefits or a third-party claim, where you can seek damages from parties-at-fault other than your employer for your injury. Call Matt Fendon Law Group and discuss your rights in depth to make sure you’re fairly compensated.
