We can’t know official numbers for 2020 workplace hazards until sometime in 2021. But there is a very good chance that when everything is finally tabulated, the number 1 workplace hazard will have been coronavirus transmission. Even now, we have not managed to provide effective regulatory and enforcement guidelines for the workplace. The virus is too new, and OSHA, too slow.

Oregon’s top 35 workplace COVID-19 outbreaks happened with only a few ever inspected. OSHA had complaints about the workplaces before the outbreaks happened. They only inspected two of those places and found them in compliance. Oregon is one of the most “woke” states in the union. Yet they have no answer to this workplace hazard. Imagine how much worse it is everywhere else.

If we look back on the past couple of years, we can learn a lot about workplace hazards as the numbers are the same year over year. We have the same problems that we have had for a long time. Accidents happen at about the same rate. And we are having the same kinds of workplace accidents, injuries, and illnesses. Here are some of the worst, and what you can do about them:

Strain and Overextension

Injuries caused by lifting, bending, and the like are usually listed as the number 1 or number 2 types of workplace injury. Either way, it is extremely high on the list and costs companies an estimated $13.1B per year. Pulling, pushing, lifting, throwing, and carrying heavy objects for a living is a truly risky business.

There are new solutions you can read about at Sarcos.com that address this hazard. One of the more innovative solutions is a powered exoskeleton suit that provides enhanced strength and lifting capabilities while greatly reducing the body strain that often becomes a crippling injury.

If your industrial setting does not yet provide this type of solution, you will need to make a greater commitment to the following:

• Stretching
• Exercise and muscle-building
• Healthy diet and nutritional supplements
• Regular visits to your doctor to be sure that strain and pain are properly managed
• Taking breaks throughout the day

You are not superman. Wear lifting belts even if your company does not require them. Get someone to help with heavy or awkward lifts. And take care of yourself. If you are a business owner with employees, be sure to mandate and enforce safe habits and provide the equipment necessary for safely performing the job.

Struck by Falling or Moving Objects

Industrial accidents are a little different from your everyday slip and fall. These types of accidents often involve industrial equipment such as forklifts that don’t have the safety features of a truck. One of the most common types of industrial accident is being struck by a falling or moving object, such as a forklift.

These types of accidents can happen in warehouse environments that are over-busy, understaffed, and less concerned about workplace safety than company profits. Amazon has spent much of 2020 trying to rehabilitate its reputation for neglecting the basic needs of warehouse workers – needs like safety and a decent wage. They became somewhat notorious for having such tight strictures on breaks that workers could not go to the restroom without risking reprisal. This type of environment is the breeding ground for excessive industrial accidents.

Airborne Infections

We started with the coronavirus. It is fitting that we end with a note of caution about viral infections. The common cold can wipe out your company’s productivity almost as quickly as a coronavirus outbreak. When people are sick and at home, they are not contributing to your company’s bottom line. The same measures that reduce the chances of spreading Covid are also advisable for reducing the spread of any airborne infection.

Mask-wearing has become a political issue. But it is a long-standing practice in Asian countries. Open-plan offices were a bad idea from the start. And now, we are stuck with them for a while. We will need to invite mask-wearing in the office at least until such a time that we can put up dividers between workspaces. Hand sanitizers should be as available in the office as staplers.

One thing we discover about workplace injuries from studying the data is that many of them are the direct result of companies having priorities that supersede worker safety. You can do better. Be the company that provides tools that reduce lifting injuries. Be the company that puts worker safety above warehouse profits. And be the company that puts reducing viral spread over politics.