How Do Hand Injuries Happen at Work?

Workers use their hands for many, and sometimes all, of their on-the-job duties. Yet our hands are also fragile and can be injured severely in a range of ways and in various different types of jobs. As the Social Security Administration (SSA) underscores, many adults are ultimately determined to be disabled because of a limited ability to perform either fine or gross movements with their hands. Work-related hand injuries are also not limited to those who perform physically demanding jobs. While physically demanding jobs in industries such as construction, warehousing, maintenance, health care, and airline ground work often involve hand injuries, employees in administrative jobs, as well as cashier work at retail stores, frequently suffer repetitive motion injuries that impact their hands and their mobility.

How do hand injuries happen at work, and what types of hand injuries are the most common? Our Maryland workers compensation lawyers can provide you with more details.

Getting the Facts About Workplace Hand Injuries 

How often do hand injuries happen at work? According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) about one million workers need treatment in emergency departments every year due to hand injuries, and about 70 percent of them were not wearing gloves at the time of the injury. In total, more than 100,000 workers require time away from work annually as a result of the debilitating nature of their hand injuries.

Common Types of Hand Injuries at Work 

Hand injuries frequently happen while people are working simply because their job tasks require the use of their hands. In some positions, certain types of hand injuries may be avoided by wearing gloves, yet gloves do not prevent serious cuts, and they cannot prevent crush injuries or fractures. From repetitive motion injuries associated with typing, cash register operation, and certain health care tasks to the operation of heavy machinery in warehousing and construction jobs, employees must use their hands. According to the University of Delaware, the following are the three most commonly reported hand injuries caused by work duties:

• Lacerations, which can result from encounters with various kinds of sharp objects, from kitchen knives and maintenance tools to heavy machinery;
• Crush injuries, which typically result from accidents in which hands come into contact with heavy equipment or hands are struck by heavy objects; and
• Fractures, which can occur as a result of a blow to the hand or even a fall.

Repetitive motion injuries affecting the hand are also common.

Contact a Maryland Workers’ Compensation Lawyer

 From retail and grocery store work to construction and health care industry jobs, hand injuries are much more common than you might think. They can impact workers at desk jobs, as well as those whose work is much more physically demanding. For many employees with hand injuries that require medical care and time away from work, it is possible to obtain workers’ compensation benefits. To find out more about your eligibility for workers’ compensation benefits and to file a claim, do not hesitate to get in touch with one of the experienced Maryland workers’ compensation attorneys at the Law Offices of Steinhardt, Siskind and Lieberman, LLC. We can discuss your workplace injury with you today and help you to determine your options for financial compensation.

Source:

ssa.gov/disability/professionals/bluebook/1.00-Musculoskeletal-Adult.htm