Industrial injury

An industrial injury is any disease or bodily damage resulting from working.

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The most usual organs involved are the spine, hands, the head, lungs, eyes, skeleton, and skin.

Common causes of industrial injury are poor ergonomics, manual handling of heavy loads, misuse or failure of vehicles, machinery or tools, exposure to general hazards, inadequate safety training and clothing, jewellery or long hair that becomes tangled in machinery.

General hazards in a work environment include electricity, explosive materials, fire, flammable gases, heat, height, high pressure gases and liquids, hot gases and liquids, powerful or sharp moving machinery, oxygen-free gases or spaces, poisonous gases, radiation, toxic materials, work on, near or under water, work on, near or under weak or heavy structures.

List of well known industrial injuries:

• Air embolism caused by working with compressed air close to cuts in the skin.
• Asbestosis caused by working near asbestos.
• Decompression sickness caused by working underwater in a high ambient pressure environment
• Hand-arm vibration syndrome/HAVS/white finger caused by long-term use of vibrating tools
• Phossy jaw caused by chronic exposure to white phosphorus
• Repetitive strain injury
• Silicosis caused by working in a confined, dusty environment

There are many methods on preventing or reducing industrial injures, including: anticipation of problems by risk assessment, safety training, safety clothing, breathing equipment, safety guards, mechanisms on machinery, and safety barriers. In addition, past problems can be analyzed to find their root causes by using a technique called root cause analysis.