Work-related injuries are as common as snowflakes in winter and every day another wave of people leave the office or job site in pain and need a doctor’s attention.

1. Slips, trips, and falls

At the top of the list of work-related injuries is slipping, tripping, and falling. Nearly every job environment has a floor somewhere that at some time will become wet and slippery as ice. Many times it’s hard to tell if a floor is wet and without a marked sign alerting passersby, it’s easy to slip and tumble and hurt yourself. Slips and falls typically result in soft tissue injury or a broken bone requiring extended recovery time.

2. Vehicle accident injuries

On-the-job vehicle accidents happen every day, resulting in everything from scrapes and bruises to broken bones or internal injury requiring extensive surgery and years of recovery time. Even if you follow every safe driving law in the book, someone else’s negligence could land you in the emergency room. The best prevention to keep you and your loved ones safe is to pay attention and be prepared.

3. Muscle strain and repetitive motion

Constant repetition of lifting heavy objects, performing the same movement all day, and even simply sitting at a desk for hours on end are very common reasons for muscle strain injuries. Back and neck strain is especially prevalent among office workers with poor seating options and many employees pass off mild muscle strain as a non-issue but these types of conditions often lead to severe problems.

4. Falling objects

It seems uncommon and like “this will never happen to me” but being hit by falling objects at work is an everyday occurrence in many workplace environments. The most concerning injury, of course, is a head injury which can result in cuts or lacerations in the best case, or concussion and blindness in severe incidents. A TV falling from a warehouse shelf or a coffee pot from a cupboard can cause different but lasting injury.

5. Overexertion

Occupations involving significant physical effort day in and day out, including pulling, lifting, carrying, pushing, and throwing lead to thousands of work-related injuries every year. In fact, overexertion is the number one workplace injury as well as the most expensive in terms of benefit costs.

In all types of work-related injury, training and safety are critical in reducing the number and severity of incidents.

For more information on car accidents injuries and chiropractic care, contact Veeva Chiropractic Clinic at (503) 782-6108.