Workplace Safety Screenings is in the business of helping employers understand the risks of workplace injury and death. As much as we offer information on this subject and provide statistics, work related deaths may feel abstract until they happen to you. Just like with any tragedy, we know they are possible, but still they are unexpected. Of course accidents exist, but we don’t expect them to happen to us. Unfortunately they do happen and real people who work at actual businesses become accident and injury statistics. Don’t let that happen to you or your workers.
A wise man learns from his own mistakes. A wiser man learns from the mistakes of others. -Unknown
Oregon, 2020: A forklift operator dies after being crushed by a loaded pallet of soda cans.
“Each year, nearly 100 workers are killed and another 20,000 are seriously injured in forklift-related incidents.” OSHA
Trenton, Florida, 2021: A metal manufacturing facility caused the partial amputation of the hand of a 21-year old machine operator. OSHA cited the company for a willful violation for removing the guards and exposing workers to amputations hazards. The agency proposed $122,879 in penalties.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics found that more than 34,000 people sustain a lost-time injury in the workplace annually due to machine accidents.
Gainesville, Georgia 2021: OSHA investigates a gas leak that killed 6 workers and injured 12 others at a poultry processing plant.
Channel Islands, California 2020: Three workers fall from a SoCal oil platform from a height of between 30 to 50 feet. They found one man unconscious and two exhibiting signs of hypothermia.
“In 2019, 880 workers died in falls, and 244,000 were injured.
West Haven, Connecticut, 2020. Two workers were killed in a steam pipe explosion in one of the buildings at the West Haven campus of the VA Connecticut Healthcare System.
Austin, Texas, 2019: A two-crane collision at a building site in Austin, Texas injured at least 22 people. 16 victims were transported to local hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries.
According to OSHA, there are about 125,000 operating cranes in the United States construction industry.
Orlando, Florida, 2019: A beam slipped off a piece of equipment and struck two construction workers .One worker was pronounced dead at the scene.The other construction worker was transported to a hospital for a non-life-threatening head injury.
“According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are more than 42,400 “struck by falling object” recordable incidents every year in the United States.” - 3M
All across America, worker safety is being threatened by any number of potential hazards. Most workplace hazards, however, can be avoided with a proactive safety plan that realistically evaluates the risks related to your job site and industry. With proper planning and tried and true safety procedures, business owners can mitigate risks to keep their business and employees safe. When you partner with Workplace Safety Screenings, we become your partner in all things safety related. From drug testing services and background screenings to Covid testing and Occupational Health & Wellness, we can help make safety a reality for your business so that workplace accidents and injuries won’t be.