ELECTROCUTION INJURY
Electrocution is a risk in almost every workplace. Some workplaces such as construction or industrial settings can present an elevated risk for a number of reasons. Some of the most common ways in which people are electrocuted at work include:
- Performing repairs or work on or near wiring to which they assumed the power was turned off
- Exposed wiring
- Improperly installed wiring
- Defective machinery/appliances/power tools
- Touching an overhead or downed power line
When electrocution occurs, the injuries can be severe and even fatal. Some of the injuries that can be caused by electrocution include:
- Burns
- Ventricular fibrillation
- Nerve damage
- Damage to internal organs
On-the-job burn injuries are notoriously painful, and it is difficult for the injured party to recover and return to work.
Stop and think for a moment about all the possible hazards that could befall you in your workplace. You could fall down a flight of stairs or off of a ladder or scaffold. You could have an extremity – commonly fingers or toes – crushed in between two heavy objects. You could be hit by falling objects or debris. There could be broken bones, heat exhaustion, heat stroke, lacerations, chemical exposure, muscle strain, torn ligaments and any number of other injury-causing circumstances. Depending upon your profession, some of these injuries are more likely than others are.
An all-too-common scenario that many people forget about or assume won’t happen to them is suffering a burn injury or being electrocuted. Burns can be thermal in nature and come from obvious places like fires, cooking implements, machinery or substances like tar or asphalt. They can also be chemical, and be caused by exposure to toxic or extremely acidic substances. Burns are also a common side effect of electric shock, alongside other ramifications like brain injuries, cardiac system damage and cell death.
