Occupational injury
[1] While many prevention methods are set in place, injuries may still occur due to poor ergonomics, manual handling of heavy loads, misuse or failure of equipment, exposure to general hazards, and inadequate safety training.
[5] In more developed countries, construction [6] and manufacturing [7] occupations are associated with high rates of spine, hand, and wrist injuries.
Federal regulations and industry consensus standards provide specific measures and performance-based recommendations for fall prevention and protection.
However, persistent unsafe practices and low safety culture across many industries define steady fall injury rates each year.
Reducing fall injury and death rates require:[14] According to data from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, an average of 15 workers die from traumatic injuries each day in the United States, and an additional 200 workers are hospitalized.
[15] In a study in the state of Washington, injured workers were followed for 14 years to determine the long term effects of work injury on employment.
As in the United Kingdom, slips, trips and falls (STF) are common and account for 20-40% of disabling occupational injuries.
[21] Some of these injuries can be prevented with the availability of patient lifts, improved worker training, and allocation of more time to perform work procedures.
Studies on a cohort of newly hired workers have thus far identified forceful gripping, repetitive lifting of > 1 kg, and using vibrating power tools as high risk work activities.
[23] Additionally, noise exposure in the workplace can cause hearing loss, which accounted for 14% of reported occupational illnesses in 2007.
The majority of these injuries are located to the hands or legs, and can result in mild to severe reactions, including possible hospitalization.
[27] Due to the wide variety of biologics used in animal agriculture, needlestick injuries can result in bacterial or fungal infections, lacerations, local inflammation, vaccine/antibiotic reactions, amputations, miscarriage, and death.
[30] The agriculture industry has begun to focus more on proper education and training, and has made a variety of resources available to producers.
For example, organizations like the Upper Midwest Agriculture Safety and Health Center (UMASH) have a variety of informational fact sheets and training videos easily accessible online.
[40] Of all the workplace accidents that resulted in death, the most common were falls from height, contact with moving machinery and being struck by a vehicle.
[39] The research shows that the amount of time employees worked was strongly linked to muscle and joint issues in the neck, lower back, left elbow, and right wrist.
