New Study Reveals That Retail Workers May Suffer More Workplace Injuries Than You Realize

According to a new report released in November, workplace injuries for retail workers are one of the few injury areas that did not decrease over the last two years. According to the report, injuries in this area caused employees to miss an average of 24 days of work per year, and the top three injuries associated with the biggest loss include slip and falls from ladders or scaffolds (an average payout of $21,000), strain injuries due to repetitive motion (average payout $14,000), and motor vehicle collisions (average payout $13,900). The report reinforces the concept that employers must provide training when it comes to both operations and safety, especially for young workers, in order to keep everyone safe in the workplace.

This is especially surprising given that occupational illness and injury rates for all industries have declined each year except for 2018, meanwhile, retail injuries increased. It is especially important to be aware of these findings with the holiday season approaching, and with the influx of seasonal, less experienced assistance during the holidays, additional responsibilities and inventory is added onto those who regularly work in retail, which increases their safety and injury risks.

What Areas of Retail Specifically Are the Most Dangerous?

The report also made a number of other important findings, including the following:

• The most hazardous areas of retail are automobile parts, barbershops and beauty parlor/hair styling salons, drivers, fish, meat, or poultry, and hardware
• Higher payouts for injuries were associated with a more advanced age and for men versus women
• Almost one-fourth of all claims were related to lifting

Workplace Injury & Wrongful Death: Employers & HR Managers Should Be Taking This Seriously

These statistics, in combination with previous studies that have found an increase in workplace injuries that are linked to an elevated risk of overdose and suicide, are an indication that employers need to take workplace injuries seriously. They reveal that injuries that required one week off from work tripled the risk of death from overdose or suicide for women and increased that risk by 50 percent for men.

Circumstances are even worse for those who have suffered a previous injury; where men were more likely to die by suicide by 72 percent and almost 30 percent more likely to die by drug overdose. Women who had to miss work due to past injuries were 92 percent more likely to die by suicide and almost 200 percent more likely to die from a drug overdose.

Contact Our Texas Workplace Injury Attorneys If You’ve Suffered from an Injury

If you live in Texas and have been injured or lost a loved one due to a workplace injury, contact our experienced Houston workplace injury attorneys at The West Law Office today to find out more about our services.

Resources:

businessinsurance.com/article/20191120/NEWS08/912331748/Retail-injuries-in-focus-as-holiday-shopping-season-emerges

ratchetandwrench.com/articles/9192-retail-risk-report-released

https://www.houstonpersonalinjury.law/texas-petrochemical-explosion-displaces-injures-thousands/