Workplace Hazards Affect Thousands
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) conducts training seminars nationwide to assist employers in identifying and controlling amputation hazards in the workplace. Despite this fact, numerous companies receive citations and fines from the OSHA for exposing workers to amputation dangers.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports an alarming 10,000 workers suffer amputations through workplace hazards every year, contributing to 6.5 percent of all amputations performed nationally. The manufacturing and construction sectors make up two-thirds of all amputation claims, and occur most often to workers who operate and maintain machinery.
According to the OSHA, workplace injuries resulting in amputations are widespread and involve many varieties of equipment. In the manufacturing sector, some of the most frequent safety violations cited by the OSHA include: inadequate safety guards on power presses, saws, conveyers, grinders, and milling machines that prevent fingers and arms from being pulled into machinery, failures to conduct ""lockout-tagout" inspections which ensure machines remain off when conducting routine maintenance, failures to conduct regular equipment inspections, and inadequate training of new employees regarding the safe operation of machines.
The numbers tell the story.
Workers getting caught and compressed in running equipment, account for 83% of amputation accidents. A vast proportion of claims, 48%, are for amputation accidents occurring during a worker's first year on the job, and 22% occur within the first three months. Most commonly, workers suffer the loss of fingers and thumbs. However, 3% of amputation injuries involve the loss of hands and arms, and another 3% involve the loss of legs.
Every year, 600 workers in the U.S. lose a limb while on the job.
The costs to both employers and workers can be staggering. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, amputation injuries are among the most costly worker claims by injury. Recovery from traumatic amputation is a long process, resulting in many days of lost labor. Those recovering from such workplace injuries can expect be faced with expensive hospital bills, lost wages, and painful therapies.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) conducts training seminars nationwide to assist employers in identifying and controlling amputation hazards in the workplace. Despite this fact, numerous companies receive citations and fines from the OSHA for exposing workers to amputation dangers.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports an alarming 10,000 workers suffer amputations through workplace hazards every year, contributing to 6.5 percent of all amputations performed nationally. The manufacturing and construction sectors make up two-thirds of all amputation claims, and occur most often to workers who operate and maintain machinery.
According to the OSHA, workplace injuries resulting in amputations are widespread and involve many varieties of equipment. In the manufacturing sector, some of the most frequent safety violations cited by the OSHA include: inadequate safety guards on power presses, saws, conveyers, grinders, and milling machines that prevent fingers and arms from being pulled into machinery, failures to conduct ""lockout-tagout" inspections which ensure machines remain off when conducting routine maintenance, failures to conduct regular equipment inspections, and inadequate training of new employees regarding the safe operation of machines.
The numbers tell the story.
Workers getting caught and compressed in running equipment, account for 83% of amputation accidents. A vast proportion of claims, 48%, are for amputation accidents occurring during a worker's first year on the job, and 22% occur within the first three months. Most commonly, workers suffer the loss of fingers and thumbs. However, 3% of amputation injuries involve the loss of hands and arms, and another 3% involve the loss of legs.
Every year, 600 workers in the U.S. lose a limb while on the job.
The costs to both employers and workers can be staggering. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, amputation injuries are among the most costly worker claims by injury. Recovery from traumatic amputation is a long process, resulting in many days of lost labor. Those recovering from such workplace injuries can expect be faced with expensive hospital bills, lost wages, and painful therapies.
