Leading causes of serious workplace injuries

Both employees and employers in South Carolina can be affected by workplace injuries. To emphasize this fact, a leading insurance company has come up with an annual list of the top causes of serious work-related injuries. “Serious” injuries were defined as those that caused an employee to miss five or more days of work. Injuries were also categorized by direct costs to employers and by key industries.

Most workers were injured on the job by overexertion from outside sources, which often contributes to spine-related problems, and falls on the same level. Nearly 10% of all workplace injuries during the period studied involved employees being struck by equipment or some other object. Approximately 9% of workers were temporarily off the job because of falls to a lower level. Excessive bodily exertions, roadway incidents involving motorized vehicles, and slip-and-trip accidents that didn’t involve falling also affected roughly 4 to 7% of injured workers.

The list is rounded out with injuries caused by workers getting compressed by or caught in equipment or objects, work-related injuries due to repetitive motions, and incidents of employees being stuck against equipment or some other object. The manufacturing, healthcare, construction, professional services, retail, and transport and warehousing industries were among the industries with the highest proportion of all workplace injuries. Wholesale workers were most likely to be affected by overexertion injuries, and leisure and hospitality workers were most affected by same-level falls.

Regardless of the type of injury sustained in a workplace accident, affected employees are encouraged to report the incident as soon as possible so that proper documentation can be on file. If initial efforts to file a valid workers’ comp claim fail, a workers’ compensation lawyer may become involved. An attorney may also handle the appeals process, which often involves gathering documentary evidence and contacting possible witnesses.