Is your workplace accident-proof? How can anyone tell? Brain injury from accidents can happen anytime and your workplace may not be as safe as you think it is.
There are also many working areas whose management disregard building safety codes. This definitely endangers the lives of working individuals.
And of course, a careless and clumsy worker is always prone to workplace accident.
Causes
Workplace accident may cause traumatic brain injury. A work environment can never be very safe no matter how neat an office is. Accidents resulting to brain injury can happen in a workplace especially if you are not careful and not aware of your surroundings.
Falls
Work-related falls are the leading causes of a traumatic brain injury. Statistics show that they are the second leading cause of brain injury-related deaths.
A fall may be due to uneven surfaces, wet floors due to coffee and water spills, and as simple as an obstruction or a scattered object on the floor.
Some serious brain injuries may also happen to employees working in a construction site. A fall leading to a head injury is also the most common type of accident in a construction site. Workers on a platform supported by scaffolding, climbing through scaffolding, using ladders, and walking along narrow beams are at high risk of brain injury from falling.
Spills
Coffee spills are common in offices.
Coffee makers are almost present in each office pantry and sometimes in one corner of an office. The floor area near these coffee servers are favorite dripping places for coffee. Unmindful employees having coffee break can slip and it can cause serious head injury.
Sometimes employees love to drink coffee while in their working stations. They can accidentally swipe a coffee cup any time. An office worker may not notice the spill and just slip on it before the spill has been mopped.
Tripping
An office person walking swiftly or someone reading a document or newspaper while walking may not notice an obstruction along his path and may accidentally trip on it. This can cause an awkward fall. Or he can just lose balance but may eventually hit his head on the floor or against an edge of a table, a machine or a corner of a cabinet.
Faulty Stairs
Stairs or a fire escape area is where serious falls can also happen.
Stairs not properly maintained always cause accidents. A dent in a step of the stairs may cause a person to lose balance, fall and eventually hit his head against the concrete surface, wall ahead or a steel railing.
Fire escape stairs made of steel metal can be damaged due to rusting. Rust in the metallic stairs deteriorates and weakens the stairs. When someone steps on them, he can slip until he hits his head.
Wet Floor
A wet floor due to drips from ceiling or rainwater entering from an ventilation opening may be unnoticed. This too can cause someone to slip and fall and end up with a brain injury.
Falling Objects
Serious head injuries may also be caused by falling objects such as a weak wall suddenly collapsing or sometimes from an unfinished roofing. Falling objects from a construction area may be tools, construction material, or debris.
An object falling from a very high area can cause serious head injuries. Regardless of how small it is as long it is made of a hard material, it can result to head trauma.
Goods stacked above in a warehouse may also be a source of workplace accidents. Improperly stacked goods like liquid containers may suddenly fall when accidentally bumped and it may fall on persons working nearby.
Heavy Machines
Equipment related mishaps can happen in a workplace.
A heavy machine can go haywire and it can cause accidents and serious injuries to workers operating it or those working nearby. For example, the loaded clam shells of a backhoe may suddenly open and release its contents on persons below it.
Or a forklift may suddenly move at a reverse manner and hit someone behind it.
A dumpster may fall over people nearby and a nail gun can suddenly just fire and direct nails to anyone in front of it.
Chemical Exposure
A power plant is a highly hazardous place to work in. Leaking pipes, overheating equipment, chemicals discharge, explosions, fires, sudden release of steam can happen any time. All these can result to brain injury among its employees or workers.
To ensure that workers are safe while doing their jobs, the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) provides the standards of safety that all employers must abide.