What Kind of Injuries Most Commonly Occur in Office Environments?

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October 1, 2021
By John Dorsey

Working in an office is inherently less dangerous than working in a busy and physically demanding industry like construction or manufacturing. But that is not to say that offices are completely hazard-free. Like any worker, office workers can succumb to job-related injuries that call for workers’ compensation, especially when workplace safety is not made a top priority by management personnel.

Five of the most common office injuries, in no particular order, are:

Slip and fall injuries: According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), slip/trip and fall accidents are one of the most common types of workplace accidents in offices and across all other industries. Around the typical office, slip and trip hazards can include recently mopped floors, lifted carpeting, unkept cables and power cords, and random objects left in a walking path.
Carpal tunnel: Working at a computer for 8 hours a day and 40 days a week can wear down on your hands and wrists. Carpal tunnel syndrome and arthritis are not uncommon among office workers. Ergonomic keyboards can be used to help prevent these repetitive stress injuries (RSI).
Eye strain: Just as using a keyboard for long hours a day can hurt your hands, staring at a computer monitor for equally as long can hurt your eyes. Eye strain can start as a tired feeling that makes you want to close your eyes. But it can gradually worsen to a debilitating condition that makes looking at any light source, no matter how dim, physically painful.
Back injuries: Spending the better part of a day in an office chair can eventually hurt your lower back. The average computer chair is just not designed to be used for more than an hour or so at a time. If you are experiencing back pain while working in an office, then you should notify your supervisor immediately to see if you can get a new ergonomic chair.
Transportation incidents: Some office workers are required to leave the office often and drive to another location. For example, office assistants are regularly tasked with picking up food for the office, buying office supplies and printer ink refills, heading to the post office, and so on. This is why transportation incidents like car accidents are among some of the more common office-work-related accidents, despite not actually happening inside an office building.

Office Workers Should Get Workers’ Compensation

As an office worker, you probably qualify for workers’ compensation, but it depends on where you live and the details of your employment. Most office-based or “white collar” companies hire people as employees, and they tend to have more than a few of them. Therefore, the average office worker in America has a high chance of being covered by workers’ comp. If you get hurt while working in an office or due to a job-related duty, then you can seek benefits through your workers’ compensation coverage.

Need help getting workers’ comp after an office injury in Rapid City, South Dakota? Contact the attorneys of Whiting Hagg Hagg Dorsey & Hagg right away.