When people think about workplace injuries, they often think about some of the most dangerous industries in the world. For instance, they consider things like deep-sea fishing, logging or construction. They imagine catastrophic accidents involving heavy machinery and materials.
This makes a simple office job seem relatively safe. If you spend every day just sitting at your desk and working on a computer, perhaps taking phone calls or going to meetings, you don’t think that you’re facing a whole lot of physical danger. And it may be safer than working in the deep-sea fishing industry, but it’s important to note that you can certainly suffer injuries while sitting at your desk.
Repetitive motion injuries
For example, many people who type a lot will end up with carpal tunnel syndrome or other types of repetitive motion injuries. This happens simply because you are doing the same motion so many times that it is excessively hard on your body, which has not been conditioned to this constant repetition. The singular motion itself is not dangerous, but doing it millions of times, for months or years, can add up.
Back pain
Another issue that a lot of workers face is that they are not given ergonomically-designed chairs or they are told to stay at their desk for excessively long hours, and they end up developing serious back pain over time. This is usually lower back pain, but it could spread throughout the body. Treatments may be as simple as taking painkillers or going to the chiropractor, but there are also cases where people have significant issues and debilitating pain that requires surgery.
If you have suffered any type of injury at work, be sure you know what legal options you have.