Workplace Safety – The Common Causes Of Accidents At Work

Different working conditions expose the worker to different kinds of injuries. Workplace safety, no matter how well planned is never perfect. Most of the accidents and injuries that happen in the workplace though could be limited if there is more vigilance on the worker and a communal desire to improve safe working conditions. Obviously, most accidents and injuries happen in the shop floor, manufacturing area, and other work areas where people are more active. This, however, does not mean that the office is a safe cocoon. Injuries, when these happen, there are just as fatal though less frequent. Overall, while workers are exposed to different types of injuries, there are injuries that are common in all places where people work.

Ignoring suggested safety precautions. Failure to report unsafe practices and hazards, performing a task without protective gear and clothing, doing several tasks at the same time and becoming distracted are common causes of accidents at work.

Falls, Trips and Slips. These injuries are caused by several factors. Rushing through without looking first is a common case. The habit of many workers, executives included, to read while walking has resulted in many bumps, scalding, items toppling over, unseen cables, misjudging elevations and misjudging distances are among the most common.

The sad thing is that not much time is saved compared to the risks involved. This, however, is not prohibited in most offices. The complications arise because executives are the leading culprits in this practice. Further, accidents caused by this practice do not happen often enough to merit being prohibited. It however causes injuries, sometimes fatal. Until this practice is banned in the offices and many other workplaces, the best thing for a co-worker to do is to get out of the way or warn when there are possible dangers in the path.

Falling, on the other hand, is the cause of most fatal accidents and injuries over the last twelve years. Being struck by falling objects has also resulted to hundreds of deaths from 1998 to 2008

Electrical incidents follow closely. Quotas, targets, deadlines coupled with a lot of other to do things within a frame of time, leave many workers no better alternative but to save time by eating meals and snacks in their cubicles. A few years back, this is fine as the use of electrical gadgets and equipment are not so common. With today's technological advancement and the use of different technologies that are electricity dependent, electrical incidents are rising.

Manual lifting. Manual lifting, for reasons that sometimes escapes practicality, people of different ages, sizes and health conditions lift things misjudging strength and weight. This common practice results to back injury, neck injury, head injury, sprains, and repetitive strains.

Other common injuries in the workplace are deafness, asthma, dermatitis, and white finger vibration. While many illnesses have medical and technological remedies, white finger vibrations are irreversible. It has been suggested that this type of injury is common to workers whose task involves excessive arm and hand vibration.