Accidents are a common occurrence in the United States and is the third biggest cause of death with household injury contributing 75% of deaths. More than 160000 Americans die due to accidents at the workplace and home. Injuries mostly affect people between the ages of 55 to 64 years.
Common Injuries Experienced
The most common injuries experienced are slipping or tripping, falling from heights, reaction injuries, falling object injuries, and being struck against objects. Let’s look at all these in detail.
Falls from Heights
Falls is the most common injury in the United States. According to the CDC, unintentional falls account for 19,565 deaths annually in the US.15% of most the falls occur at the workplace.
There are two types of falls: elevated falls and same-level falls. Elevated falls is the falling that one experiences from high positions. These falls are more severe and over 60% of them occur less than 10 feet.
Same level falls are the more common of the two and are mainly caused by slippery surfaces. Likely those that have been polished recently, are being washed or have just been washed. Falls account for 20% of deaths in the elderly of ages 65 and above. This translates to around 1800 deaths per year.
Falls can cause the following injuries:
- Broken bones
- Head trauma
- Death
- Spinal cord injuries
- Incapacitation and more
Reaction Injuries
These are injuries caused by a reaction to potential danger. For example, if one is about to fall and they try to get themselves to safe ground, hurting themselves in the process.
Cause of reaction injuries includes physical reaction, emotional reaction, and allergic reaction.
Physical Reactions
A heart attack can be considered a physical reaction injury as it is a reaction of the body under extreme pressure. The most common though is trauma without impact. There are different kinds of physical reactions. They include climbing, bending, and sitting or standing in the same position for a long time.
Allergic Reaction
People may also suffer from allergic reactions. Allergy is a body’s reaction to allergens. Allergens can be the fur of a cat, dog, or even pollen. Allergy is a result of a reaction to external factors that can lead to:
- Breathing problems,
- Lost pulmonary function.
- Skin irritation
Emotional Reaction
An individual can suffer from emotional damage due to stress from workload at home because of duties and responsibilities. This can lead to health complications such as:
- Insomnia
- PTSD
- Anxiety disorders
If an environment is continually stressful there may be effects on the emotional and mental health of the victim. It is wise to make sure the surrounding environment is comfortable and friendly to your emotional and mental well-being.
Slipping or Tripping
Slipping is when you step on something and lose your footing. Tripping is when a foot catches on something and you may fall forward or not fall at all.
Slips occur due to the following:
- contamination- this is caused by rainwater, oil, or dust
- human factors such as carrying a heavy load or using the mobile phone while walking
- footwear- one should wear slip-resistant footwear
- cleaning – one should restrict access to wet floors due to cleaning
- environment – thus might or too little light, frost or ice on surfaces causing one to slip
Tripping occurs due to
- obstruction in walkways like rocks
- uneven surfaces
Falling Objects Injuries
These are injuries caused due to objects falling on someone. This might occur when one is taking something from a high cabinet and some items fall to the person. This can also occur due to the manipulation of an object by a person with ill intentions towards something.
When an individual loosens the grip of an object such as a chandelier and the object falls on someone. Some objects might also be old and not screwed tight enough thus falling on a victim. There may be varied reasons why an object falls off to a person and injury is incurred. Some may be fatal depending on the weight of the object and part of the body hit. If one is hit on the head, they may experience head injuries and if one is hit on the shoulders, they will most likely incur shoulder injuries.
Struk Against Object or Equipment
Being struck against an object can be one of the most painful and even embarrassing ways to getting hurt. You may be hit on the foot with a table or a chair. You can be hit on the face with a window or a locker. One may even be hit by a moving trolley. These injuries may cause no significant harm to the victim. You should be careful all the time to avoid this sort of injury.
A person can avoid being struck against objects by tiding and cleaning the place of work and home environment.
Injuries are caused by a variety of reasons, including falls, been hit by objects, among others mentioned above. Some of the injuries pose a grave danger and require lots of money to deal with settling up expenses. Some injuries can be caused by unavoidable circumstances like the weather. Prevention is better than cure so we should try and avoid injuries as best possible as we can by cleaning and tidying up surfaces. However, if the injury was due to negligence or could have been prevented, seek out a Asheville Personal Injury Lawyer.