If you ever hear about workers’ compensation claims, it’s usually tied to manual labor occupations such as construction workers, manufacturing, and basically anywhere you would need to be around dangerous machines. However, what is often left out are desk jobs. Yes, contrary to popular belief, you can get injured while working at a desk job. Thus the following includes three of the most common workers’ comp claims presented to HR.
Slip-and-Falls
If you have ever been in an office space, you know that there are certain areas where things simply go to be “stored away.” However, in many cases, not much effort is made to ensure that these things are properly organized. Although it may not be your job to fix items or even be around that section, there are times when you may have to venture into it in order to obtain supplies or documents you may need to reference. It is during those moments that people tend to slip and fall, thus injuring themselves severely. In fact, according to the CDC, this is amongst the most common injuries reported by office employees.
Ergonomic-Related Injuries
One of the most common misconceptions surrounding workers’ compensation law is that an injury needs to happen suddenly. Although sudden falls do happen, many other injuries occur over time. For example, desk job employees will tend to complain about a stiff back or pain in their wrists. All this occurs because of ergonomics—or a lack thereof. Having the wrong chair height or simply an old chair can do some serious damage if a person remains on it for long enough. Repetition injuries such as carpal tunnel syndrome and bursitis are just a few of the injuries reported by employees.
Lifting Injuries
Contrary to popular belief, most desk job employees do not remain at their desk the whole day. In many cases, they are asked to pull information from large boxes or move around the office to assist others. Unfortunately, this constant need to pick heavy items up such as bulky boxes and computers may lead to a lifting injury. Because the human back is so strong, many people will simply endure the pain for as long as they possibly can. That, unfortunately, only leads to further injury with many reporting having pain in their knees which can cause someone to have to remove themselves from their job until they are able to walk properly.
As you can see from the information above, office desk injuries are very much a part of the present workplace. In many cases, employees will have to file for workers’ comp. in order to properly heal.