Top Five Reasons Mississippi Workers Get Hurt on the Job

While workplace accidents can happen anywhere, some industry sectors are more prone to accidents than others. Construction workers are in constant danger of being struck by objects, falling on uneven ground or being hurt by machines and equipment. Police and firefighters constantly place their lives and their bodies at risk. Hospital workers can easily become infected or suffer back injuries from moving patients around. Workplace injuries in manufacturing jobs are especially dangerous. Truck drivers face a number of risks while on the road.

Some types of accidents happen again and again. According to insurance company statistics by Arbill, the leading causes of workers’ compensation claims include:

1. Overexertion. It’s hard work pulling, lifting, pushing, and carrying boxes, tools, merchandise, and people. Back strains, torn ligaments, soft tissue injuries, and other injuries are common where workers do too much.
2. Slips and falls. Many workers routinely fall where the floors are wet, the ground is slippery or uneven, where there are holes in sidewalks, there are objects on the floor, and where carpets are torn.
3. Falling objects. Merchandise that falls from a store can injure a retail worker. Construction workers can easily suffer traumatic brain injuries and other harm if a tool, a piece of equipment, or a work object such as a board falls on them.
4. Falls from high heights. Workers who spend time on scaffolds or high beams can easily fall to their death, suffer a spinal cord injury, or broken bones. Falls from roofs, down stairways, and from ladders are fairly common.
5. Reaction injuries. In this scenario, the worker often avoids failing by reacting to likely harm by pulling a muscle or wrenching a back or neck.

Other leading causes of workplace accidents include:

• Walking accidents. Accidently walking into a door, wall, table, or some other object can cause a worker to lose time from work. Knee, neck, head, and foot injuries are common.
• Vehicle accidents. Drivers who operate a truck, car, bus, or other vehicle are often killed or suffer serious injuries while using a vehicle for work.
• Getting entangled with machines. Many workers are hurt when their shoes, clothes, or hair get stuck in the machines they work with.
• Repetitive motion injuries. These actions can lead to carpal tunnel syndrome, back pain, and other injuries.
• Acts of violence. Law enforcement and most every worker runs the risk that another worker, a member of the public, or a customer may attack them.

In addition to filing a workers’ compensation claim, injured workers may have a third-party claim. If defective equipment or tools caused an accident, the worker can file a product liability claim against the manufacturer of the equipment or tool. If a non-employer caused the accident, the negligence lawyers at Merkel & Cocke, P.A.  can file a negligence claim against those responsible.

Our Mississippi workers’ compensation attorneys have been fighting for injured workers since 1982. We do more than just file workers’ compensation claims. We contest efforts by employers to force you back to work too soon. We work with your doctors to understand how much medical care you will need and what your prognosis is. We negotiate lump-sum settlements for workers with permanent injuries. We demand all the wages you are due. For help now, call us at 662-627-9641 or fill out our contact form to schedule an appointment. With offices in Jackson, Clarksdale, and Oxford, we are always near when you need us the most.