Common Mechanical Injuries

Common Mechanical Injuries.

In any industrial setting, people are usually exposed to various accidents that may cause mechanical injury. This is because in an industry workers interact with various machines that are used to stitch, chip, staple, slit, shear, punch, cut and drill. If safe use of these machinery is not maintained and safeguards are not in place, these machines may replicate their functions on human beings.
According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), on their article on common mechanical injury hazards, some of the workplace mechanical injuries that one may be exposed to include cuts, crushes, breaks, punctures and strains.
A cut which may be accompanied by tearing takes place when comes into contact with a sharp edged object. This may also be from a rotating machine element that has a sharp member. According to Mechanical Hazards: Shear or cutting Points article, a shear point hazard usually exists when the edges of two machine parts move across each other or move closely enough together to cut another object or move a relatively soft material. Such a tragedy may occur when the operator of the machinery reaches out under the shearing blade to make an adjustment on the material he or she is handling and then he or she accidentally activates the blade before he or she completely withdraws the hand. This injury may also be completely accidental when the machine malfunctions and such a component leaves its position where it is fitted firmly and flies off to meet the operator causing harm to him or her. Such sharp objects apart from causing cuts may also cause amputations and contusions.
A crushing injury occurs when two objects move towards each other or when a moving object approaches another stationary object. It may occur when a part of the body is caught between two hard surfaces that usually move progressively together. Thus they end up crushing anything that may be between them. This may lead to crushing of tissues, cuts, and also breaking of bones.
Machines that are used to deform materials in industry can also cause breaking of bones. Broken bones are better known as fractures. There are various forms of fractures. A simple fracture is a break that does not pierce the skin. A compound fracture is one which breaks through surrounding tissue as well as skin. While a complete fracture separates the affected area into two or more separate pieces. Fractures are usually associated with power driven machines which have moving components that may move with a high speed that may accidentally cause bodily harm to the operator.
Puncturing is an injury that results when an object penetrates straight into the body and then pulls out straight out. In the process, it creates a wound that is in the shape of the penetrating object. This injury mostly results from reciprocating machine components that have a sharp pointed end an example is the scotch yoke mechanism. The greatest hazard with such machines is that they may cause damage to internal body parts that play an important role in the well-being of a human being.
A strain usually results when muscles are over stretched or torn on the other hand, a sprain results from torn ligaments in a joint. Such injuries can occur suddenly or may develop over days or week. This may be due to recent injury, lifting of heavy object in the wrong way thus straining certain muscles.
Care should be taken in industry so as to avoid injuries from taking place. Most of these injuries are preventable by being more cautious as well as putting in place certain infrastructure such as safe guards on machinery.

REFERENCES
OSHA article on Industrial Safety All about Safety-Common Mechanical Injury Hazards – published on Tuesday, January 31, 2012. Retrieved from oshissues.blogspot.com/2012/01/common-mechanical-hazard-in-industrial.html?m=1
Mechanical Hazards: Shear or Cutting Points. (2013). Farm and Ranch extension in Safety and Health (FReSH). Retrieved from http://www.extension.org/pages/68264/mechanical-hazards:-shear-or-cutting-points