Georgia Workplace Injuries - By the Numbers

It is not something people in Georgia typically think about on their way to their job in the morning or as they drive home in the evening. Statistics about work injuries are often more meaningful after a person has sustained an injury while on the job or has been denied workers' compensation benefits.

That is when the statistics might make it clear just how common workplace injuries are and how important it is for all of us to be safe when we are doing our jobs, whether it is in construction, an office, factory, store or other type of business.

Research by The National Safety Council shows that a worker somewhere in the U.S. is injured on the job every seven seconds. Think about that for a moment: that is one injury taking place every seven seconds of every minute, hour and day of the year.

The most common causes of the injuries:

• 33 percent: overexertion
  These injuries are caused by lifting or lowering objects or via repetitive motions.
• 26 percent: contact with objects or equipment
  This is when a worker is struck by an object or equipment, or is caught in a piece of equipment or is in a collapsing structure or material.
• 25 percent: slips, trips and falls
  These injuries occur when an employee falls to a lower level (often in construction) or slips or trips on the same level.

The Council breaks that figure out in several ways, pointing out that the figure translates to the following:

• 510 workplace injuries per hour
• 12,600 workplace injuries per day
• 88,500 workplace injuries per week
• 4,600,000 workplace injuries per year

Yet another way of looking at the rate of injuries: 104,000,000 work days are lost each year to on-the-job injuries.

If you have been injured on the job contact one our experienced workers' compensation lawyers today for a free consultation 770-214-2500.