One thing that people often ask about workplace injuries is just how common they are. They may frame it as a way to discount what they consider to be minor injuries, asking how often the injuries are so severe that the person has to go to the hospital or even passes away.
Though this may sound dismissive, it’s important to remember that workplace injuries are actually incredibly common. For instance, one key statistic that came out in 2019 was that a worker passed away every 99 minutes. That’s just slightly more than an hour and a half. Every three hours, roughly two workers were losing their lives on the job.
This does not account for all of the other severe injuries that simply didn’t result in fatalities or for the more minor injuries that may not have even required a hospital visit. But it stands to reason that the least frequent injuries are going to be fatal, and they were still happening once every hour and a half. This is a risk that all workers face, even if they think that these types of serious incidents are uncommon.
So. what can you do?
If you do get injured on the job, you need to make sure that you know about all of your rights. You should be covered by workers’ compensation benefits, which can help you pay for the medical bills resulting from the accident and may cover a significant portion of your lost wages. Just be sure you know what steps you need to take to get the compensation to which you are entitled.