As you start a new work week, you probably are not overly concerned about your chances of getting hurt while at the office. Most of us do not walk into a work space in which serious damage to our bodies is a likely risk of employment. However, accidents do happen in even the most mundane of environments. According to the United States Department of Labor’s Occupational and Safety Health Administration (OSHA), around 75,000 people are injured on the job every year.
What do you think some of the most common sources of injury are? And no, one of them is not your desire to bang your head against your desk because the guy in the next cubicle calls his girlfriend ten times a day in between rounds of playing video games and online shopping.
Here are a few of the ways in which a typical office can pose a threat:
Chairs — Yes, I guess you can trip over one. But the more significant problem is an uncomfortable or ill-positioned chair that we must sit in hour after hour while typing away at our desks. Poor posture and lack of reinforcement can lead to serious back and shoulder issues. If you don’t have one, try to push for an ergonomic chair. Then, always sit with your feet flat on the floor.
Doors — You probably come in and out of doors throughout the day while at work — to enter your place of employment, perhaps specifically your own office, most likely the bathroom at some point. These culprits lead to a good amount of finger sprains and fractures every year, diminishing the work abilities, at least temporarily.
Stairs — They don’t mean to be dangerous, but stairs certainly cause their share of problems for workers every year. From getting a heel caught on the way down to slipping while cleaning the steps themselves to carrying too many boxes to simply being distracted by a text message or conversation, people fall on stairs while at work and serious injury can occur.
What about your office? What are some of those environmental dangers you may not at first consider as a problem? If you’ve been injured on the job, what was the cause?
When you are injured at work, you often are looking at both medical expenses and possible lost wages for time missed from work. You deserve to be compensated for these losses, and the workers’ compensation attorneys at Bertolino LLP can help. Please contact our Austin, Houston or San Antonio office today and let us know what we can do to help.
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