Whether you’re a manual worker or have a more office-based position, you use your hands for almost every task. Not only is this the case at work, but it’s also true with regard to your daily life.
Injuries to the hand can be devastating and they do occur in the workplace. Outlined below are some of the more common work-related hand injuries.
Cuts and lacerations
If you’re a chef, butcher, or in any other type of food production, then you will use knives and other potentially sharp objects. To do the job properly, the knives you work with tend to be sharper than the ones you have at home. This means that a brief slip of your hand or lapse in concentration can cause a severe cut or laceration.
A surface wound may heal within a matter of weeks, but if it requires stitches, the recovery period may be longer. Things become more serious if the tendons or nerves are damaged in the hand. In severe cases, nerve damage can be irreparable.
Bone fractures
The hand comprises 27 bones, which are susceptible to injuries during trauma. This is something that manual workers need to be aware of especially, as they may be using hammers, power tools and heavy machinery. Most work-related hand fractures are caused by blunt force trauma. The recovery time for hand fractures depends on which bones have been broken and whether or not soft tissue and nerve damage have also occurred.
If you can’t use your hands then you aren’t going to be able to earn an income. If you were injured in an accident that happened on the job, then you may be entitled to financial compensation. Reaching out to someone with knowledge in the field of workers’ compensation law will help to reveal your options.