You work hard to provide for your family. Day in and day out, you give consistent effort and are diligent. Unfortunately, overexertion injuries can sideline you from earning a living, even if you are a safe and conscientious employee.
Overexertion injuries are a leading cause of workplace injury. According to the 2020 Liberty Mutual workplace safety index, heavy lifting cost U.S. employers nearly $14 billion per year. Overexertion is one of the leading causes of injury for all age groups and can happen in various workplace settings. From the office to the warehouse, it can be easy to overexert yourself to keep up with a fast-paced work environment.
Let’s dive into overexertion injuries, overexertion injury prevention and what to do if you suffer an overexertion injury.
An overexertion injury is a bodily injury that is the result of a work-related action or movement. Many times, overexertion is caused by:
Overexertion injuries can affect the entire body from the head and neck down to your feet. The most common examples of overexertion injuries are strains, sprains, tears and other soft-tissue injuries.
Overexertion can affect large areas of your body, like your back or legs. They can also involve more specific locations, like your fingers and wrists, after hours of fine-motor activity. Carpal tunnel syndrome is a common wrist injury that occurs when a worker has to type for long periods without rest and ergonomic equipment.
While overexertion injuries are common amongst the United States workforce, they are preventable with the right amount of support and buy-in from employers and employees.
In an Occupational Health & Safety (OHS) Magazine article entitled “3 B’s for Preventing Soft-Tissue Injuries,” author Robert Pater speaks to the number of signs, videos and other material he has seen urging employees to be careful. However, this mindset puts an unfair amount of responsibility on the workers. Employers must provide equipment and training that set up workers for injury prevention.
While the skills required to avoid these injuries may be different for each job, here are some general tips to prevent an overexertion injury:
While you try your best to follow the correct procedures, use the right equipment for the job and stay safe while at work, you can still end up suffering an overexertion injury. Here’s what you need to do if you are injured:
Have you suffered an overexertion injury while on the job? Contact the legal experts at Eng and Woods today to see how we can help you get the compensation you deserve.
Braden Bills
My friend injured his back while lifting at work, and he’s not sure what to do. It makes sense that he might want to get a workers’ compensation lawyer to see if he can get the help from that. That way, he can get some help with paying for his medical bills.
Jessie Holloway
I love how you point out that overexertion injuries are avoidable as long as employers and employees don’t get reckless. My cousin’s husband owns a restaurant and he’s been looking into comp insurance for his employees to ensure that safety stays a priority. We’ve been looking into finding different providers he likes the terms of and can partner with to help him navigate when an injury does happen.