Most Common Work Related Hand Injuries

As per the Safety and Health Council of North Carolina, it is found that there can be many possible types of hand injuries that take place in the work place, such as lacerations and cuts, punctures, skin irritation, burns, strains and sprains as well as amputations. Among all these types of hand injuries the most common is laceration and cut which is almost 63%, punctures is 6%, fractures or bones breaks which is 5% and amputations is around 13%.

The following are some very common types of work related hand injuries:

Lacerations and Cuts: Lacerations and cuts are a very common type of hand injuries that takes place at workplace. However, it is a very common type of injury which includes small type of scratches and small cuts. These types of injuries can be treated very easily and generally heal very quickly. However, if the cut takes place in the muscles or nerves it can become a little serious. In order to reduce the risk of this type of injury, it is important to wear safety gloves especially it becomes very important when working with sharp objects or tolls or machinery.

Punctures as a Work Related Hand Injury: This type of hand injuries is mostly found to happen at workplace. This is mainly caused when the employees handle any hazards work using the sharp objects or machinery or tools. This type of injuries can be ignored if the tools and machinery can be used properly and proper maintenance of the tools as well as machinery is done.

Burns: Burns to the hands very commonly takes place at the works and there can be mainly three types of burns at work place and these are thermal burns, electrical burns and chemical burns. Thermal burns takes place when a worker is exposed to flames, steam as well as any kind of hot surfaces. Electrical burns occur when current passes though the body of the worker. Chemical burn is a type of burn occurring due to hazardous substance which results into chemical change in the skin.

Strains or Sprains as a Work Related Hand Injury: Strains and sprains mostly happen on the hands and feet of the worker. It is found that workers accidentally slips and often falls heavily on their hand due to which wrist or hand injuries may be caused.

Skin Irritation: Due to the exposure of various types of hazardous substance such as chemicals, soaps and detergents, skin irritation on hands may be caused at the place of work that may include rashes or blisters. Though these types of work related hand injuries are generally mild but it can sometimes become so severe that the worker cannot continue their work.

Fractures or Broken Bones: As a result of the extensive force or lifting excessive weight or falling from certain height, hand injuries may occur at the workplace. In severe cases, this type of work related hand injuries may lead to fractures of the hand.

Amputations as a Work Related Hand Injury: This type of injuries is mainly caused due to moving machine or equipment. It is a severe type of injury that may result in the loss of whole or any part of hand. However, this type of work related hand injuries are very rare.

All these types of hand injuries may happen in the workplace. So, a worker should work very carefully in the working place to avoid these types of injury. The best way to avoid these types of work related hand injuries is to wear hand gloves, take protective measures when any kind of hot or sharp object or chemicals are used. These types of protective measure will help you to reduce hand injury in the work place.

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