The Most Common Causes Of Personal Injuries (And How To Avoid Them)
Personal injuries can be a massive burden on someone’s life.
They can be very costly, and end up causing us to fall into debt. Today, I want to discuss the main causes of personal injuries.
Hopefully, understanding the causes can help you avoid getting a personal injury, or causing someone to have one.
Work-Related Accidents
There are millions of people that report work-related accidents each year. An accident like this involves anything that happens because of work.
So, imagine you go to lift a box from the floor, and end up putting your back out. Or, you’re sitting in your chair doing work, and then it breaks, and you fall and hurt yourself.
Both these things are considered a work-related accident, and there are many other cases out there.
Although offices can spawn their fair share of accidents, the majority occur in manual labor jobs. People that work on construction sites or in warehouses are usually at a greater risk.
This is down to the amount of physical effort they put into their work. They’re always lifting things, operating equipment, and working in risky places.
There’s no denying that a construction site will be riskier than an office. You have so many things there that can cause an accident.
This is why construction workers are forced to wear safety equipment, and office workers aren’t. The same can be said of warehouses.
There will be loads of boxes that need lifting and storing on massive racks. There’s always the slight risk that one can fall down and land on you.
The main causes of work-related accidents are faulty equipment and poor working conditions. As such, these accidents can be hard to avoid as a worker.
But, as an employer, there are many ways you can avoid these accidents from occurring. First things first, provide good working conditions.
Ensure everything is up to health and safety standards, and there are no risks for workers. Secondly, test your equipment to ensure it isn’t faulty and will cause accidents.
Finally, offer health screenings for staff to find out if they’re physically able to work. Sometimes, you may realize you’re asking people to do things their body can’t handle.
Traffic Accidents
In 2015, over 4 million people were injured in accidents on the roads.
This involved car crashes commercial vehicle accidents, and pedestrian incidents. The simple fact is, traffic accidents are one of the most common causes of injuries.
Speak to any personal injury attorney and they’ll tell you most of their cases involve these accidents.
The reasons for this are simple, firstly, there are millions of people driving vehicles every day. As such, it would be almost impossible to expect no accidents to happen. Especially on highways where there can be hundreds of vehicles all bunched up together.
Secondly, there are so many things that can lead to a traffic accident. The weather can have a huge bearing on the driving conditions.
Icy and wet roads can make it harder for some people to control their car. They don’t adapt to the changes and end up getting into an accident.
Then, you have reckless driving, which causes a lot of traffic accident. Things like people driving while checking their phone or driving over the speed limit.
Along with these, you could also include drunk driving. That’s seen as the ultimate case of reckless driving and gets many people injured each year.
Another thing that leads to accidents is debris on the road. If a tree falls down, it causes havoc for drivers. People are left to swerve out of the way, which puts other drivers at risk.
Finally, you have big commercial vehicles like trucks. These are a source of many traffic accidents, as they’re difficult vehicles to drive. There are many blind spots for the driver, meaning they can cause accidents without even knowing it.
Thankfully, most victims are able to claim compensation following a traffic accident. Provided there is substantial evidence that proves the other driver was at fault.
Compensation can help sort your life out after an accident. However, the best solution is to do your best to avoid these accidents altogether.
Understandably, no one goes out looking for an accident. However, there are some things you can do to be safer. Firstly, be a safe driver that abides by the rules.
If you drive carefully, you can be more aware of things around you. This will help you avoid causing any accidents on the roads. Secondly, always be alert at the wheel, never drive tired.
Tired driving leads to a reduction in reaction times. This can be the difference between you braking in time to avoid an accident or not. Also, be extra careful in poor conditions, and consider not driving when there’s ice unless you have to.
At the very least, these tips will ensure you don’t cause any traffic accidents.
Slip And Fall Accidents
Slip and fall accidents are an extremely common source of personal injuries. Mainly, this is because there are so many ways someone can get involved in these accidents.
They can happen everywhere, from your personal bathroom to an aisle in a shop. Typically, slip and fall accidents can lead to numerous injuries.
Head, back, and neck trauma are usually the most common injuries people get.
The thing with these accidents is that there’s only one main cause. They occur when someone slips on a slippery surface, it’s as simple as that. What makes the surface slippery?
Well, that can be any number of things. Water and other liquids can be spilled and not cleaned up, causing you to slip.
Sometimes, a cleaner can mop a floor, and forget to put any caution signs down, leading to people slipping as it’s wet.
Then, you have the classic banana skin which people can tread on and slip up. Where is the most common place people get into slip and fall accidents?
For me, it’s a close battle between the two places I mentioned earlier. Lots of people slip and fall at home, particularly in their bathroom.
This is because there’s lots of water that can end up on the floor without you realizing. Thus, the risk of falling is high. Plus, many people slip and fall in their shower or bath.
Then, you have shops, particularly grocery stores. There are many things that can cause you to slip and fall here. Bottles of liquid can spill and not get cleaned up right away, causing you to fall.
To avoid these accidents, you have to be more aware and pay attention to warning signs. If there’s a sign telling you the floor is wet, then tread carefully.
Don’t start running across the floor, as you’re asking for trouble. To avoid causing these accidents, you should clean up any spillages and make people aware that the floor is wet.
Product-Related Issues
The final cause of personal injuries is issues related to products. This is a fairly broad spectrum and results in millions of injuries a year.
It refers to any issues you have with a product that causes you harm. These products can be anything from a microwave to medication that you bought from a pharmacy.
When you look at things, there are so many causes of product-related injuries. At the top of the list is product failures. This is where you buy a product, and it ends up being faulty.
Sometimes, a fault can be no problem, and you can exchange it to get your money back. Other times, a fault can be more serious, and cause you to get an injury.
For example, let’s say you bought a new set of chairs for your dining room table. They arrive fully-formed, and you get all excited to sit on them.
Then, the first time you sit on one, it breaks. You fall backward, and smack your head on the floor leading to a concussion.
This all happened because the chairs weren’t made properly and had a fault. The other main cause of product-related issues is wrong/bad instructions. Say you bought some medicine, and it told you to take a certain dose.
Then, after a couple of doses, you start to feel ill and need to see a doctor, fast. Before you know it, you’re lying in a hospital bed. The doctor tells you that you took too much of the medication. But, you were only following what the instructions said. Because of these wrong instructions, you’re now hospitalized.
To avoid these issues, I suggest tackling the two main causes. Test any new products you have before you use them properly. See if they have any faults, and search online for any common faults people have found. Also, check online for instructions for the products you own.
See if there are any that say different things to the instructions you’re given. This helps you figure out if you have right or wrong instructions.
Final Thoughts…
There you have it, the four main causes of person injuries. I hope this information is valuable to you and helps you avoid personal injuries in the future.
Have you ever dealt with a personal injury before? Share your thought and stories below.
Cheers!
