The holiday season is a time to celebrate with friends and family by eating delicious meals, giving and opening gifts, and even taking a trip. However, workplace accidents and injuries tend to increase during this time of year. In order to have an injury-free season, it is important to understand the potential hazards in order to avoid them altogether.
Common causes of work accidents during the holiday season include the following:
- Stress – From shopping for gifts to planning festive gatherings, the holidays can be quite stressful. On top of all of that, the season is also the busiest time of year for many industries. Working in a rush and under frustrating conditions may cause employees to accidentally create a work hazard by knocking things over, bumping into someone or something, or forget to complete an important task.
- Fatigue – Many people work overtime or longer hours to meet end-of-the-year goals, maintain production demands, or earn extra cash to purchase presents. This extra work in addition to the stress of the holidays can leave many workers feeling tired. Unfortunately, fatigue is a common cause of workplace accidents. For example, you part of your job requirements include driving, fatigued driving is just as dangerous as drunk driving. Additionally, fatigue can result in a careless error that could lead to a severe injury.
- Increased traffic – The holidays are synonymous for congested traffic due to shoppers and travelers, which can make commuting to work much more difficult than it should be.
- Slips and falls – Since inclement weather such as snow, ice, and rain can make roads and walkways slippery, failure to notice these conditions can lead to a serious slip and fall injury. Furthermore, many companies get into the holiday spirit by decorating the workplace. However, exposed cables and wires can cause trip and fall injuries.
If you suffered a workplace injury during the holidays, contact our Glendale workers’ compensation attorney at the Law Offices of Wax & Wax and request a free consultation today.