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No employer in their right mind thinks, “I hope one of my workers get seriously injured today.”  No employee that is sane will think, “I would like to fall to my death at work today.”  Workplace accidents occur so often, it’s almost common place.  There are millions of injuries investigated by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) each year.  It is bad enough that people get hurt, and sometimes die from these accidents, but the expense to the workers is great as well.  Taking time off work to heal from an injury is not always compensated.  Medical bills and lawsuits can cost an injured employee hundreds to thousands of dollars, even with insurance.  Work-related injuries in Virginia and the rest of the U.S. might happen more often than you think.

OSHA regulates work environment safety in Virginia, and other states.  Virginia worker safety is so important to OSHA, and they do everything within their power to make sure health and safety laws are followed.  OSHA provides a Workplace Safety Pack that includes information on how to stay safe at work.  In the package, ergonomics, lifting safety, and information on slips, trips or falls are addressed.

Even with guidelines and procedures outlined, and all the reminders to stay safe, over 250 thousand workers fell on the job.  The most recent statistics cover the year 2005.  The countrywide statistics from 2005 report over 4.2 million work related accidents.  More than 5,000 people died as a result of job-related accidents.  (These figures do not include non-profit employees, government workers, officers, emergency medical personnel or firefighters.) 

Accidents do happen, apparently too much in the workplace.  Most people fell safe when they are at work, but that doesn’t mean that they always are.  Every employee should follow guidelines, and do what they can to ensure their own safety, and the safety of those that they work with.  If everyone does their part, all work environments can cut down on the number of accidents.

Last 10 posts by Amelia

• Colorado Reduces Minimum Wage in 2010 - November 20th, 2009
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1. Posted by: Fatal Workplace Assault Belies Trend - Labor Law Center Blog

   [...] More people are killed each year by falls, or injuries from equipment than by violence in the workplace. In 2006, the number of workers killed in falls was 809, up from the 2005 number of 770, an increase of about 5%. Across the board, every type of fall resulted in more fatalities in 2006 than in 2005. [...]

2. Posted by: Louisiana Violence in the Workplace - Labor Law Center Blog

   [...] More people are killed each year by falls, or injuries from equipment than by violence in the workplace. In 2006, the number of workers killed in falls was 809, up from the 2005 number of 770, an increase of about 5%. Across the board, every type of fall resulted in more fatalities in 2006 than in 2005. [...]