3 Tips for Preventing Accidents in the Workplace

At any moment, you could be at work handling your daily tasks and suddenly suffer a workplace injury. If this happens to you, you’re far from alone. In fact, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that a whopping 4,836 workers suffered workplace injuries that proved fatal in 2015. This breaks down to more than 13 injuries every single day, which is the highest workplace fatality figure in nearly a decade.

Fortunately, workplace injuries don’t need to happen. There are some simple, yet effective, workplace injury prevention tactics that can help you avoid a painful and costly injury. While there’s no way to prevent every workplace accident, a great deal of them can be prevented by just having the appropriate job training, using the proper equipment, and following a few basic safety procedures. To make employers understand the importance of accident prevention in the workplace, they’re now required to offer workers proper training through an injury and illness prevention program. But unfortunately, not all employers are ensuring that their workers fully understand how to use their protective gear or don’t provide new training for workers that whose job responsibilities change.

Remember, if you suffer an injury at work, MD Now Urgent Care is always here to help. But to help you avoid getting hurt in the first place, we’ve provided three ways you can protect yourself and others from getting hurt on the job: 

1. Make Sure You Receive Training on Accident Prevention in the Workplace

Did you know that many accidents in the workplace involve shoulder pain and back injury at work? This often is caused by from doing tasks that demand working in uncomfortable positions or making repetitive movements. But, just because your job involves these motions doesn’t mean that you can expect to suffer a workplace injury.  You can reduce your risk of enduring shoulder pain or a back injury at work by receiving workplace injury prevention training that teaches you about safe lifting methods and emphasizes the need to take frequent breaks to avoid getting injured and having to file time-consuming work accident claims.

Today, more and more employers are learning their lessons the hard way after having employees endure painful and costly injuries. This is why it’s vital for employers to start providing new employees with basic training on health and safety accidents at work, as well as offering workplace accident prevention courses for employees whose job responsibilities change.

2. Beware of Hazards That Can Cause Workplace Injuries

No matter which industry you work in or what your specific job entails, there are serious safety risks that you need to understand. While each workplace differs, there are four primary kinds of hazards, which include:

  • Physical hazards, such as high work spaces that can cause falls, spills that can result in slips and stumbles, and loud noises that can impact short- or long-term hearing.
  • Chemical hazards that can put workers dangerously close to getting burned by flammable substances and inhaling toxic fumes and vapors.
  • Ergonomic hazards that lead to problems for employees whose job tasks put stress and strain on their bodies.
  • Biological hazards that involve regularly coming into contact with animals, plants, and people.

Since most of these major hazards are simply considered “part of the job,” what can workers to do save themselves from suffering accidents in the workplace? Safety experts say the best workplace accident prevention strategy is for employees to recognize these hazards and protect themselves and others from suffering any health and safety accidents at work. 

3 Take Advantage of All Safety Equipment

You need to always put safety first and use any protective equipment your job demands to protect yourself from being injured. Employers need to provide you with any safety equipment required for your tasks and you have to make sure that you are wearing and using it properly. While each job has its own unique responsibilities and protective equipment needs, some of the most common types of protective equipment include:

  • A set of goggles and similar face-protection devices that will shield you from airborne particles, chemicals, debris, and other dangerous liquid substances.
  • Gloves that will protect your hands from exposure to caustic chemicals and extreme temperatures, which can cause serious wounds, such as burns, punctures, cuts, and scrapes.
  • Earplugs that will fully protect your ears from noisy tasks and very loud workplace environments that can cause hearing damage or loss.
  • A pair of safety shoes to protect your feet from randomly falling objects.

Employers must be aware that merely issuing a set of safety equipment to workers is just not enough. They’re now required to offer all employees proper training and make sure that each worker understands how to use the equipment correctly in order to help prevent accidents.

MD Now Is Your Source for the Highest-Quality Care

Discover the caring, convenient, and cost-efficient treatment that can always be found at MD Now. All of our locations operate on a walk-in, no-appointment basis with hours to conveniently suit your schedule. With 26 locations throughout Palm Beach, Broward, and Miami-Dade counties, quality care is always within your reach. For the Florida locations nearest you, visit https://www.mymdnow.com/locations.

To learn more about our urgent care centers, visit www.MDNow.com.

MD Now® Urgent Care Walk-In Medical Centers is the leading provider of fast and affordable urgent care to adults and children in Palm Beach, Broward, and Miami-Dade counties. Our state-of-the-art, walk-in medical centers are open seven days a week to deliver an affordable and convenient alternative to long emergency room wait times and the limited hours of family physicians. No appointment is necessary and major insurance plans are accepted. In addition to providing a comprehensive range of urgent care services to treat a variety of illnesses and injuries, our multiple locations offer digital x-rays, EKG, lab testing, physicals, immunizations, vaccines, occupational medicine, travel medicine and selected primary care services. Find the medical care you need with the convenience you want at MD Now. Online: www.MDNow.com.

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