From physical overexertion to catastrophic injury, workers across many industries find that their job puts their health at risk. The National Safety Council reports that over 4.5 million American workers experience a job-related injury each year.
Among the occupations that the NSC lists as most dangerous are positions in industries that are central to the Georgia economy: manufacturing and production, shipping and transportation, service work and construction.
1. Animal production and aquaculture: 16.5 injuries per 100 workers annually
From exposure to toxic pesticides and the frequent need to perform heavy lifting to the potential for dangerous equipment failure, agricultural jobs have the highest rate of occupational injury in Georgia.
2. Couriers and messengers: 9.2 injuries per 100 workers annually
Whether transporting packages, messages or meals, delivery workers often spend much of their day on the road, putting them at high risk for becoming involved in an auto accident. Transportation and delivery workers may also have to lift heavy loads on a regular basis.
3. Textile finishing and coating mills: 8.5 injuries per 100 workers annually
Textile workers may come in close contact with harmful processing chemicals and may develop musculoskeletal disorders due to repetitive stress.
4. Beverage manufacturing: 7 injuries per 100 workers annually
Employees at beverage manufacturing facilities may also develop musculoskeletal issues and risk exposure to acidic and caustic chemicals that can lead to lung or skin diseases.
5. Nursing and residential care facilities: 7 injuries per 100 workers annually
From needlestick injuries and radiation exposure to contact with infectious and potentially violent patients, health care workers face a variety of risks on the job. The need to physically assist patients with mobility issues may also lead to back, joint and neck injuries.
6. Highway, street and bridge construction: 6.6 injuries per 100 workers annually
In addition to common construction industry injuries like equipment failure, electrocution and slips, trips and falls, road workers often find themselves endangered by careless or reckless motorists in work zones.
7. Transportation and warehousing: 4.5 injuries per 100 workers annually
Warehouse workers frequently pull orders of merchandise, and often this work results in back and shoulder lifting injuries. Workers in warehouses may be struck by forklifts and pallet jacks, which zip around crowded warehouses in tight spaces. Additionally, drivers collide with other drivers in tight spaces due to lots of blind turns and because merchandise is stacked up on the pallets, affecting visibility.
Whatever the injury or industry, workers in Georgia need to know their options for receiving all the workers’ compensation benefits they need and deserve. For more on that, please see our workers’ compensation overview.