Types Of Accidents That Are Most Common

When you’re growing your business, the last thing you want to deal with is a workplace accident or injury. Accidents in the workplace can lead to not only physical harm but also undue stress and hardship for employees and employers.

To prevent accidents from happening, start with general awareness and understanding of the safety risks in your work environment. Then, you’ll need to pair that knowledge with an action plan for accident prevention to make sure the potential risks you’ve identified do not introduce harm into your workplace.

Accident Types

An accident isn’t just an event that you can lump into one big category. In reality, there are many different types of accidents. Let’s take a look at a partial list.

• Struck-by: A person is forcefully struck by an object. The force of contact is provided by the object.
• Struck-against: A person forcefully strikes an object. The person provides the force or energy.
• Contact-by: Contact by a substance or material that, by its very nature, is harmful and causes injury.
• Contact-with: A person comes in contact with a harmful substance or material. The person initiates the contact.
• Caught-on: A person or part of his/her clothing or equipment is caught on an object that is either moving or stationary. This may cause the person to lose his/her balance and fall, be pulled into a machine, or suffer some other harm.
• Caught-in: A person or part of him/her is trapped, or otherwise caught in an opening or enclosure.
• Caught-between: A person is crushed, pinched or otherwise caught between a moving and a stationary object, or between two moving objects.
• Fall-to-same-surface: A person slips or trips and falls to the surface he/she is standing or walking on. This is the second-most common accident causing injuries in the workplace.
• Fall-To-below: A person slips or trips and falls to a level below the one he/she was walking or standing on. This is the third-most common accident in the workplace (NSC).
• Overexertion: A person over-extends or strains himself/herself while performing work. This is the most common accident in the workplace (NSC).
• Bodily reaction: Caused solely from stress imposed by free movement of the body or assumption of a strained or unnatural body position. A leading source of injury.
• Over-exposure: Over a period of time, a person is exposed to harmful energy (noise, heat), lack of energy (cold), or substances (toxic chemicals/atmospheres).

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