User:Saltrabook/Occupational accidents

Occupational injuries, definition
The terms “accident” and “injury” are used synonymously for the same type of harmful event. An occupational injury has been defined as a sudden and unexpected harmful event at work or a bodily damage resulting from working. The most usual organs involved are the spine, hands, the head, lungs, eyes, skeleton, and skin. Common causes of industrial injury are poor ergonomics, manual handling of heavy loads, misuse or failure of equipment, exposure to general hazards, inadequate safety training and clothing, jewellery or long hair that becomes tangled in machinery. General hazards in a work environment include electricity, explosive materials, fire, flammable gases, heat, height, high pressure gases and liquids, hot gases and liquids, powerful or sharp moving machinery, oxygen-free gases or spaces, poisonous gases, radiation, toxic materials, work on, near or under water, work on, near or under weak or heavy structures. There are many methods of preventing or reducing industrial injuries, including anticipation of problems by risk assessment, safety training, control banding, personal protective equipment safety guards, mechanisms on machinery, and safety barriers. In addition, past problems can be analyzed to find their root causes by using a technique called root cause analysis. The reporting of occupational injuries is hampered by underreporting and lack of causal information to be used for the prevention The occupational injury burden (Figure) has decreased rapidly in Cuba over the latest years and it is interesting to know more about the prevention means. Data on fatal occupational injuries (FOIs) for Latin America are controversial.