School employees face many workplace dangers each and every day. From slippery spots in the cafeteria to confronting unruly students, teachers and faculty members face a number of on-the job risks.
Recently, an insurance company decided to take a closer look at workplace injury rates in school to determine how injuries were happening and how they can be prevented. We’re going to share the results of their study, and explain what you should do if you are a school employee who has been injured on the job.
Who Is At Risk?
For their study, researchers examined more than 8,000 injury claims over a five-year period here in Minnesota. Here’s what they found about who is most at risk for on the job injuries at school:
- Males and people over the age of 50 had a higher rate of injury than the average worker.
- Food service workers, transportation workers and custodial staff had the highest rates of workplace injuries.
- Of licensed staff, special education teachers had the highest rate of injury, but this was still much lower than non-licensed groups.
Types Of Injuries
Here’s a closer look at the most common types of injuries among teachers and school employees.
- Falls, slips and trips (30 percent of all injuries)
- Struck by an object (27 percent)
- Strains (24 percent)
- Cuts, punctures or scrapes (5 percent)
- Exposure to chemical or toxins (5 percent)
- Being struck or stepped on (4 percent)
- Other (5 percent)
Additionally, researchers found that about 25 percent of all injuries involve students. Of those types of injuries, the most common cause of injury are the student acting out (46 percent), incidental (16 percent), holding or restraining a student (15 percent), while assisting or transferring a student (12 percent) or other (11 percent). Interestingly, injuries that occurred while transferring or assisting a student resulted in the highest average missed time from work due to injury.
Filing An Injury Claim
If you’ve been injured at school or while working a school function, you have the right to pursue compensation for your injuries. As long as your job contributed to the onset of the injury, you are entitled to compensation. What we mean by this is that there does not need to be an acute moment of injury in order for you to have a valid claim. If driving a bus or prepping meals for decades has led to disc issues or carpal tunnel, you can earn workers’ compensation benefits.
If you believe your injuries have been caused by your work duties, consider reaching out to an injury law firm like Hey Workers. We’ve assisted a number of school employees when they’ve been injured on the job, and we know how to help get you the compensation you deserve. To get in contact with out firm and learn about what options are available to you, click here or give us a call at (844)-439-9675.
