Wood and Upholstery Industry

Top 10 common injuries on duty

Workers who are injured, according to the Health and Safety Act, can claim for compensation under certain circumstances, especially if the correct safety procedures were not followed by the employer.

The 10 most common injuries are the following:

1. Repetitive Motion Injuries (RMI’s).  This can be caused by motions such as typing for long hours behind a computer screen, and results in back pain, vision problems and carpal tunnel syndrome.
2. Slips, trips and falls.  Slippery surfaces, objects in the way, or simple clumsiness can result in injury.  More serious injuries can occur from falls from ladders or scaffolding.
3. Violent acts at work.  Office politics and arguments can lead to physical fights.
4. Vehicle accidents.  This is not only for employees who travel for work purposes, but smaller vehicles such as forklift trucks can also cause accidents, some of which are fatal.
5. Injuries due to falling objects (items off shelves, for example).
6. Machine entanglement.  Clothing, shoes, fingers and hair are the usual culprits.
7. Walking into objects, including walls, doors, glass windows, tables, chairs, and so on.
8. Overexertion injuries.  This is usually related to pulling, lifting, pushing, holding, carrying or throwing objects, and often results in back strain.
9. Cuts and lacerations due to anything from simple scissors to power saws.
10. Electrical incidents, such as shocks.