Some people believe that workplace accidents are not preventable; that they are something that just happens and we have to deal with them. While that may be true to a point, we beg to differ. In many cases of workplace accidents, something could have been done to prevent the accident from occurring. The National Safety Council, tends to share our views.
Obviously, no one goes to work thinking, “I’m going to get into an accident today and collect workers’ compensation.” Quite the contrary, workers are usually in fear of getting injured on the job. In some occupations, workers are on “high alert” at all times, knowing that a certain power tool, or a ladder, or a certain machine, or even a careless co-worker can cause them to get injured at any moment.
The National Safety Council compiled a list entitled, Top Preventable Workplace Incidents, and we thought they were worth mentioning. Here are some of the ones that caught our attention because we deal with them on a daily basis:
- Overexertion injuries, such as those sustained while pulling, lifting, carrying, pushing, and throwing.
- Slip and fall accidents that are caused by wet floors, uneven surfaces, and foreign objects.
- Falls from heights; these often involve ladders, roofs, and stairways.
- Falling objects from shelves, or dropped by co-workers.
- Unintentionally walking into something, such as a wall, door, cabinet, or window, which leads to head, knee, neck, and foot injuries.
- Motor vehicle accidents.
- Getting entangled in a machine.
- Repetitive motion injuries, such as carpal tunnel syndrome.
- Workplace violence.
While not all workplace accidents can be prevented, certainly a large share of them can be. Often, a workplace injury is caused by fatigue, inattention, a poorly-maintained machine, a forgetful co-worker, the failure to use safety equipment, wearing loose clothing, or simply because employees are not properly trained on how to use equipment.
Fortunately, the workers’ compensation system is a “no-fault” system. Meaning, regardless of who’s at fault – the employee, a co-worker, a customer, or even a complete stranger – the injured employee should still be entitled to workers’ compensation benefits.
Looking for a Long Island workers’ compensation lawyer? Contact Katz, Leidman, Freund & Herman today!
