FACTS

1. The hand is the second most common body part to be injured at work
2. The most common cause of hand injuries in the workplace today is human error. Not lack of personal protective hand coverage, not faulty machines, not environmental issues.
3. You’re most at risk for cuts and lacerations. These injuries are sustained by everything from nicks and scrapes to knives and heavy machinery. While some of these can be fixed with Neosporin and a Band-Aid, others require medical attention.
4. Your organization may already have gloves available for employees, but a quick look at OSHA’s hand injury stats reveals that you probably aren’t wearing them. Get a barrier between your hands and whatever the work is that you do. The glove doesn’t have to be the most expensive, technologically advanced piece of PPE, but it does need to address the hazards that you face on a daily basis.
5. The most common types of hand injuries are bruises, pinches, lacerations, abrasions, strains, amputations, dislocations, Carpel Tunnel Syndrome, and Raynaud’s Disease. The non-dominant hand is the most vulnerable to injury.
6. While hand injuries aren’t the deadliest, they can certainly make your day-to-day work much harder.  Injuries to the hand can also be more difficult to heal because of the way the hand moves, the wound can open up.

STATS

• Of the 286,810 non-fatal occupational injuries to upper extremities in 2018 involving days away from work in private industry, 123,990 involved hands, which is more than 43 percent, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
• Hand injuries are both expensive and tragic. A hand injury can cost anywhere from $540 to $26,000, according to the National Safety Council. Injuries to the hand are the second most common type of workplace injury, so they also have a big impact on workers’ compensation claims. The National Council on Compensation Insurance, Inc., found that “the preliminary 2018 average indemnity accident year claim severity increased by three percent relative to the corresponding 2017 value.
• An Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) study found that 70 percent of the workers suffering hand injuries in manufacturing operations were not wearing safety gloves at the time of injury.
• Five types of hand injuries are: lacerations (cuts), accounting for 63 percent of the total; crush (13 percent); avulsion (tearing of skin or soft tissue), accounting for eight percent; puncture (six percent); and fracture (five percent), according to the National Safety Council.