Most Common Injuries at a Chemical Plant

If you own a chemical factory, you’re likely already aware they’re one of the most dangerous industrial-based locations a person can work. Regardless if you have factory workers, engineers, or scientists working for you, there are certain dangers in these plants and labs all of them face eventually encounter. That’s why we’re going to cover the most common injuries at a chemical plant.

Standard Physical Injuries

Like factory work in any other industry, physical harm is always a possibility. It can come from things such as malfunctioning machines or slip and falls. Repetitive stress injuries are also likely. It doesn’t matter what it’s from; employees can easily break their bones or receive painful bruises while working on the factory floor.

Physical issues can occur from less direct methods as well. For example, overexertion is a common problem in factory work since most of these jobs require a high level of strength and endurance. If you don’t give your employees a proper amount of breaks, they can get overly exhausted or even dehydrated, leading to a whole host of possible issues.

Burns and Blisters

The most common injuries at chemical plants, by far, are burns and blisters. These are most frequent when a person gets directly exposed to harmful chemicals. Whether it was due to negligence or the failure of a machine, these injuries are devastating. On top of that, burns can occur from a standard fire or explosion. Both of those are the unfortunate outcomes of dealing with harsh chemicals. Injuries such as inhaling contaminants can be prevented by using a full face respirator which protects the worker from a variety of potential injuries.

Eye Injuries

Eye injuries can cause lost time at work, serious vision loss, and, in some cases, permanent blindness. They can also cost your organization by affecting productivity, profitability, competitiveness, and employee morale. Employers are required to provide a safe work environment. Having an Eyewash Station at your work site is critically important, to prevent permanent eye damage to your employees.

Internal Organ Issues

Not only can these substances injure employees upon contact, but they can harm them simply by being around them while unprotected. Many chemicals have toxic fumes that damage people’s lungs and other internal body parts if they breathe them in. This is why you need to provide protection when these toxic chemicals are around. Encourage your employees to wear protection at all times; they could still breathe in dangerous chemicals even when they’re not around them.

Possibility of Death

Any one of the previously mentioned problems could lead to death in extreme cases. While this isn’t common due to many regulations and precautions, it’s still a possibility. The last thing you want to deal with is the unnecessary death of an employee due to something you did incorrectly.