The injury risks of working in health care

If you work in a health care setting, you may already know the many risks for injury that you are exposed to on a daily basis. The general public may not think about these, especially because health care workers are the very people who the public turns to when they themselves need help in treatment and recovery from injury. However, as a worker in the health care sector, you have a high risk of sustaining particular types of workplace injuries.

Knowing about those risks and how to handle them, as well as what to do if you should sustain an injury while performing the tasks of your health care industry job, is an important step for your overall on-the-job safety. The following list provides a few examples of the workplace injury risks to nurses and others in the health care industry.

Sprains and strains

The Occupational Health and Safety Organization states that hospitals are “one of the most hazardous places to work.” Workplace injuries can lead to having to take time away from work. In a fact sheet about the various risks that hospital workers face, OSHA provided statistics showing that a full 54 percent of hospital worker injuries that led to workers having to stay off the job were due to sprains and strains.

Musculoskeletal disorders

Musculoskeletal disorders are a broad range of injuries that also include sprains and strains. The OSHA study cited above rounds out the other MSDs that hospital workers typically encounter. These include bruises, soreness and pain, and fractures.

Seeking workers’ compensation

Given the high risk for on-the-job injuries that you as a health care worker face daily in performing your work, it comes as no surprise that one day you may be in a situation in which you need to file a claim for workers’ compensation. This can be bewildering because it involves dealing with an insurance company that may claim it has your best interests at heart. If you lose wages because of an on-the-job injury, getting the compensation you need can sometimes be a difficult task.

While you do everything you can to protect yourself from injury on the job, the high injury risk in the health care industry means that sooner or later you may have to file one of these claims. A qualified personal injury attorney can help advocate for you with the insurance company if you are in a situation in which you are unable to obtain the compensation you are entitled to. Seeking out a legal professional is one way you can help minimize the stress of having to face a complicated insurance claim on your own at the same time that you are trying to heal from an injury.

Category:

• WORKERS' COMPENSATION