Preventing office injuries

Along with factories and construction sites (indeed along with any working environment), offices are subject to health and safety legislation. This puts duties on employers to make sure that offices are safe for employees, and that the way in which they are required to carry out their duties is also safe and complies with all relevant health and safety regulations.

Employers have a responsibility to take precautions to stop office accidents happening in the first place. These precautions could include ensuring leads and wires are tidy and not straying across walkways, or making wrist rests available to reduce strain injuries whilst using a computer keyboard. They will also include educating employees about any risks, as well as how to avoid injury in the office.

If your employer fails to provide this education, this is further support of office health and safety negligence and may support an accident claim.

Causes of office accidents

Office injury claims tend to arise as a result of inadequate workstations and seating arrangements or due to faulty equipment or appliances.

If you’ve suffered from an office injury, it is worth investigating whether you can claim for office injury compensation – in particular if the injury has caused you to take time off work and lose out on earnings.

Office injuries could include:

 Repetitive strain injury – Bad ergonomic planning in the office can lead to this long-term injury, usually caused by typing

 Tripping over – Trailing wires not tidied up correctly or other walkway obstacles can lead to a trip

 Slipping over – Wet floors and icy courtyards that haven’t been gritted can cause considerable injury and broken bones if someone slips on them

 Electric Shocks – Usually caused as a result of faulty equipment and untested electronics, these can lead to particularly nasty injuries

 Carbon Monoxide Poisoning – Can occur if there are broken appliances that burn fuel, such as gas boilers. Usually the gas is disposed of safely but leaks can occur and poison those in the vicinity

 Back Injuries – If a job involves lifting heavy boxes or other weighty objects the employee would need to be fully instructed of how to lift properly. If not, and an injury occurs, the employer is at fault.

Ex 2. Name all types of office injuries.

Ex 3. Match the office injuries with their causes.

Slipping over	Trailing wires not tidied up correctly or other walkway obstacles can lead to a trip
Repetitive strain injury	Wet floors and icy courtyards that haven’t been gritted can cause considerable injury and broken bones if someone slips on them
Back Injuries	Usually caused as a result of faulty equipment and untested electronics, these can lead to particularly nasty injuries
Tripping over	Bad ergonomic planning in the office can lead to this long-term injury, usually caused by typing
Electric Shocks	If a job involves lifting heavy boxes or other weighty objects the employee would need to be fully instructed of how to lift properly. If not, and an injury occurs, the employer is at fault.