Work-related hand accidents are one of the most common workplace safety issues. In fact, in Spain, one in five workplace accidents affects the hands, highlighting the seriousness of the problem.
In addition to implementing preventive procedures and providing safety and health training, it is essential to understand the causes of hand accidents. Being aware of them can help pay attention to preventing accidents.
More than 12 hand accidents occur every hour, according to statistics.
The severity of accidents also urges an analysis of the causes of hand accidents. Every year, thousands of amputations, burns, or crush injuries, among other serious accidents, occur. The common perception of hand accidents is of minor events, but that is not always the case.
In 2020, there were more than 2,500 accidents with hand amputations in Mexico, and in 2022, there were 592 in Spain. Also in Spain, there were almost 4,000 accidents with burns to the upper extremities in 2022, and about 13,000 crush or entrapment incidents.
Next, we will analyze the most common causes of hand accidents at work.
Working with tools is susceptible to causing serious hand injuries. For example, performing tasks with a malfunctioning angle grinder can lead to amputations or other accidents. To prevent these causes of hand accidents, it is important to periodically inspect and maintain tools.
The same applies to equipment or machinery as with tools. Working with damaged or defective equipment is one of the main causes of hand accidents. Therefore, equipment must be kept in good condition and updated according to preventive guidelines.
It is the company's responsibility to provide safe work areas for its employees. This involves providing them with sufficient and adequate preventive material to protect their hands and appropriate tools. It also involves establishing preventive protocols and providing appropriate training.
The nature of the work itself can be another cause of hand accidents. Performing constant repetitive efforts or movements can cause musculoskeletal injuries or reduce attention to a potential accident.
There are different types of personal protective equipment designed to protect the hands. Protective gloves against mechanical, electrical, heat risks, and more. Knowing and using them correctly is crucial to avoid hand accidents at work.
Human error is one of the most common causes of hand accidents. Despite receiving instructions or preventive training, a worker may make mistakes for various reasons. Boredom with repetitive tasks, physical or mental fatigue, distraction—there are many reasons that can lead to human error.
According to OSHA, human error is behind between 80% and 90% of workplace accidents worldwide. To prevent it, there is a solution: fully raise awareness among workers about the risks of their work, preventing them from letting their guard down.
However, this awareness is not always easy to achieve. You cannot expose a worker to an amputation to make them aware of the causes of hand accidents. Currently, new technologies such as virtual reality (VR) offer a solution to this problem.
Virtual reality reproduces real-life situations in realistic and immersive simulations. The user puts on VR glasses and experiences a realistic first-person view, interacting and making decisions. This technology is already used to provide workplace safety training such as hand accident prevention.
With Ludus' hand accident prevention simulation, the trainer can expose the employee to severe accidents without real danger. For example, if the operator does not protect themselves properly or uses a defective machine, they may suffer a virtual amputation.
The possibility of firsthand checking the consequences of human error increases worker awareness. In this way, it will be less likely that they repeat the error in real life, and they will remember the causes of hand accidents.
Do you want to know how the hand accident prevention simulation works or how to use VR in your safety and health training? Contact us in the following link for more information.