Even Office Jobs Have Injury Risks
Corbin Sutter
Workers’ Compensation
When we talk about injuries at work in the Sarasota and Port Charlotte areas, the first thing that typically comes to mind is more hazardous jobs. Working at a construction site, for example, with heavy vehicles and falling objects is easy to see where dangers lie in wait.But even if you’re not in a workplace with obvious physical hazards, that doesn’t mean there’s nothing to worry about. For those that work in offices, it may seem like there’s far less likelihood of injury, but this isn’t always the case. Just because someone works at a white-collar job, with computers instead of construction, doesn’t mean that there’s nothing to worry about. Office spaces carry their own unique set of risks for personal injury.
Musculo Skeletal Disorders
More commonly known as MSDs, Musculo Skeletal Disorders refer to any number of injuries to either muscles or bones that arise from prolonged improper work physical work practices. Sitting for months or years in a poorly constructed office chair can, for example, eventually lead to a chronic lower back pain condition. Constant typing or using a mouse with a non-ergonomic computer interface system can lead to repetitive strain injuries in the wrist and arms.
The biggest issue with these injuries is that they’re not sudden. They only arise after extended periods of unhealthy actions are repeated over and over again. As a result, a healthy worker can eventually leave a job at an office with chronic pain conditions that weren’t present before the job, and they may even be permanent.
Falls
This is perhaps the most common cause of work injuries in an office, to the surprise of many. While the falls in an office space are usually not from the same great heights as construction, they can still result in injury. More importantly, they can happen frequently depending on the conditions of an office. Some common causes of falls in an office include:
• Newly cleaned floors are wet and slippery
• Poor lighting causing falls in stairwells
• Tripping on bunched-up rugs, carpeting, or even electrical cables strung out across floors to reach wall outlets.
• Falling out of chairs from precarious seating positions while reaching for objects
• Falling off wheeled office chairs when using them as stools or ladders instead of the real thing
Depending on the age of the accident victim, location of impact, and severity of the fall, even a trip up at the office can be potentially crippling or even fatal.
Workplace Violence
Unfortunately, sometimes disagreements can spiral out of control. What starts as a heated debate can erupt into an actual physical confrontation. Fights in the workplace can occur just about anywhere. All it takes is one bad day with a trigger, such as notification of being laid off, to escalate a situation into one of violence.
Being America, there is also the added danger that sometimes this workplace violence isn’t just a hand-to-hand confrontation but involves the use of firearms. It doesn’t occur often, but when it does, the results can be devastating with psychological trauma, serious injuries, and sometimes even permanent crippling or even death.
Get Legal Help
If you sustain an injury at the workplace due to poor work practices maintained by management, that’s not your fault. You may be eligible for financial compensation to help offset the medical expenses, recovery period, and even lost wages.
If you think you might be the victim of negligent practices at your workplace that resulted in such an injury, get legal help. Talk to one of our workplace injury lawyers for a free case assessment to see whether you should move ahead with getting the compensation that may be owed to you.