Back Injury
How to Prevent the Back Injuries Plaguing the New Jersey Workplace
Back injuries are a major cause of missed workdays and leave of absence in the New Jersey workplace. The Bureau of Labor Statistics, which collects employment, workers’ compensation, and workplace injury data for the entire United States, estimates there are over one million workers impacted by back injuries last year. This means back injuries accounted for nearly 20% of all workplace injuries in 2017.
The trends for workplace injuries are similar to those for the rest of the United States, and the Garden State sees a high number of back injuries reported to workers’ compensation each year. A back injury lawyer is busy with these claims that come from individuals of all ages and professions.
What Are the Main Causes of Back Injuries?
A back injury lawyer will represent workers hurt in a multitude of different accidents. Some people can cite to a specific moment or accident that caused their ongoing back pain, while other workers point to repeated motions or actions over a period of weeks, months, or years. Yet, it is possible to delineate three common causes of the back injuries in the New Jersey workplace.
First, improper lifting techniques when moving or pushing a heavy object, machine, or inventory is the leading cause of workplace back injuries. The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that 75% of all back injuries result from this single cause. In New Jersey, nurses, occupational therapists, construction workers, retail employees, and air transport workers are some of the professions reporting an extraordinary number …
Read MoreMost Common Injuries for New Jersey Employees in Education
We often overlook the physicality required of teachers and educators but leading a classroom certainly isn’t a desk job. Teachers spend long hours standing as they lecture and more time on their feet as they detail concepts on a chalk or whiteboard. There is a lot of reaching to point out earlier information or write new concepts, and an equal amount of bending to become level with students in their desks. By the end of the day, teachers have spent significant time moving, walking, and standing.
The physical demands of teaching can keep people fit and healthy. It also prevents certain injuries and illnesses associated with long periods of sitting or typing, but New Jersey employees at schools and universities are still prone to workplace injury.
In this post, the Law Offices of Albert J. Talone takes a look at the most common injuries to befall teachers and educators in New Jersey.
Impact on the Back
The workplace injuries to New Jersey employees working as teachers are more dispersed and varied than some other professions. A study on teachers in Australia found that educators were just as likely to suffer injury or pain in their hands and fingers as their ankles. However, one type of injury stood out in this study and those performed in the United States – injuries to the back were far more common than any other part of the body.
Teachers are constantly lifting books, straining to reach the corner of a whiteboard, and pointing …
Read MoreNursing Injuries: Why Are So Many NJ Nurses Hurt at Work?
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics nursing has one of the highest rates of occupational injuries in the United States. In New Jersey, nurses that work in hospitals are more likely to be injured than employees in most other professions. In fact, there are only five jobs more prone to non-fatal injuries than working as a health care professional.
While the vast majority of nursing injuries in New Jersey are non-fatal, employees can still incur extensive medical costs seeking treatment. Therefore, the consistent rise in injuries among nurses is of concern to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and certain state agencies. Plus, employees in the medical profession are concerned with the regularity in which nurses are injured.
Many people wonder why so many New Jersey nurses are hurt on the job and what to do if they suffer a nursing injury.
Nursing Injuries Arise from a Variety of Sources
Each year a New Jersey workers’ compensation attorney will represent nurses injured on the job in hospitals, nursing home, psychiatric facilities and private homes. Nurses face multiple risks of injury in the workplace. On a regular basis, nurses claim workers compensation for slips and falls, collisions, lifting, pushing, illnesses, and other sources of injury.
It is apparent from the statistics that nursing injuries in New Jersey arise from a variety of health complications and incidents. This makes it more difficult for hospitals and other employers, to address the underlying cause of nursing injuries.
Many employers are implementing …
Read MoreWhat to Do if You Hurt Your Back at Work in New Jersey?
If you injure your back while on the job there are a number of practical and legal steps that are required down the road. Eventually, a workers’ compensation claim will need to be filed with the Division of Workers’ Compensation in New Jersey. However, at the onset there are two immediate concerns for an injured employee. The first is seeking medical attention; and second, employees need to inform their employer of the injury.
Seek Medical Attention
In the event of a workplace injury, health and safety concerns are incredibly important. Care should be taken not to aggravate or worsen the injury, and if necessary, a visit or admittance to the hospital should be arranged. The sooner you obtain medical care, the better for ensuring the injury heals properly and when it comes to providing documentation and proof of the injury in a workers’ compensation claim.
Inform Your Employer ASAP
The other task of high importance after experiencing a back injury, whether from lifting a heavy object or moving something bulky, is to inform an employer. Reporting an injury to an employer will eliminate disputes and problems down the road.
In some instances, employees feel that they do not require immediate medical attention. Perhaps, in the act of lifting a heavy object you felt strain on your back. There was a brief spasm of pain and then it subsided. You go throughout your workday with some mild discomfort, but it does not progress to anything serious, so you do not tell …
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