Sometimes workplaces that aren’t thought to be dangerous or involve heavy equipment can be just as dangerous—or worse—than a jobsite that most people may think of as dangerous. For example, an office worker can suffer a slip and fall injury just as easily as a construction worker. This is why any type of worker can be involved in a wide range of Georgia workplace slip and fall accidents, including the following examples:
- Office worker trips and falls over a power cord
- Employee trips over an obstruction in the walkway and falls
- Warehouse worker slips in water and falls while carrying something heavy, which fell on top of him
- Someone tracks snow into a warehouse and a worker slips and falls
- Delivery person falls on private property while working due to a hidden hazard
- Restaurant worker slips and falls on a spilled liquid
- Employee steps onto a mat that isn’t secured properly, causing her to slip and fall
- Worker trips over boxes another employee left in the aisle
- Employee walks on freshly cleaned floors and falls because a janitor failed to place caution wet floor signs
- Kitchen crew worker slips and falls on wet floor with knife in his hand
All these examples of slips, trips and falls in the workplace can occur at any given point and affect any worker—young or old, male or female. In fact, slip and fall accidents at work occur more often than people realize, as seen in the staggering statistics below:
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS):
- Over one million people in this nation suffer slip and fall injuries annually
- About 60 percent of slip and fall injuries resulted from the services, wholesale, and retail trade industries together
- Approximately 16 percent of slip and fall injuries occurred in the manufacturing sector alone
- About 20 percent of workplace injuries occur from slips, trips, and falls
- An estimated 11 days away from work occurs due to slip and fall injuries
- About 12 to 15 percent of all workers’ compensation claims involve slip, trips, and fall injuries
- Slip, trips and falls account for the following injuries: traumatic brain injury, head trauma, spinal cord injury, and fractures of the spine, hip, pelvis, leg, ankle, arm, and hand
- Over 20 percent of people who slip and fall suffer moderate to severe injuries
- Slips and falls also cause incapacitation and death in some cases
- Slips, trips and falls cause approximately 15 percent of all accidental deaths, according to OSHA
The statistics indicate that slip and fall accidents and injuries in the workplace do, in fact, occur far more frequently than realized. If you have been injured in a Georgia slip and fall accident on the job, please contact a skilled Fulton County premises liability lawyer today at Shane Smith Law at (980) 246-2656 for a complimentary consultation.