Workplace injuries can be traumatic to go through, and also complex to navigate legally. They’re most common in physically demanding jobs like construction and joinery, but can certainly happen in any working environment. When you start a new job, it’s rare that you concern yourself with the business’s health and safety policies, because let’s face it, you never expect anything to happen to you. As an employee, it’s not your responsibility to ask about a company’s health and safety policies and procedures; it’s the business’s obligation to share those with you. Luckily, health and safety in the workplace has improved significantly compared to previous decades, and it’s now a legal requirement for businesses to take reasonable steps to protect employees from workplace risks and hazards. Even today, it’s impossible to avoid workplace injuries completely, and it’s important for employees to be aware of the serious impact a workplace injury could have on their future lives. In this article, we will discuss the long-term health impact of workplace injuries.
Mental Health Struggles
Some workplace injuries can be life-changing, and in the worst cases can be life-threatening incidents that are hard to recover from. There are many different ways that your mental health can be affected by a workplace injury. In extremely traumatic cases, individuals may suffer from PTSD and anxiety, which can be triggered by environments that are similar to the accident. For someone who has never suffered from these mental health struggles before, this can be extremely uncomfortable and worrying. For this reason, they may not return to work and struggle to find a different job somewhere new. It’s common for individuals who have experienced a workplace injury to feel depressed and turn to substance abuse to feel better. Consistent use of these addictive substances can cause drug or alcohol addiction, affecting not just the individual, but their family and friends too.
Chronic Physical or Neurological Injuries
In some cases, injuries from a workplace incident are minor, and the patient can make a full recovery. In unfortunate cases, however, employees can face injuries that change their physical health forever, or they may later experience injuries with delayed symptoms. Some common instances involve musculoskeletal issues such as joint problems or tendonitis from repetitive strain of muscle groups after the incident. The most concerning cases involve incidents where employees have sustained a critical brain injury; this could be from falling from a significant height or being caught by heavy machinery or equipment. Damage to the brain in a workplace incident can leave employees with traumatic brain injuries where they might experience brain fog, memory loss or speech impairments. Sustaining any sort of injury from a workplace incident should be taken seriously. Business owners are aware of their duties as an employer to keep all employees safe, and employees should not have to go through a distressing event as a result of an employer’s negligence. If you’ve been subject to serious injuries from a workplace incident, get in touch with Bond Turner, a London-based law firm that specialises in personal injury and multiple injury claims from workplace incidents.
