Every workplace has unique health and safety requirements: office settings aren’t hard-hat zones and crab fishers don’t worry about typing-related carpal tunnel syndrome. Yet hand safety is a concern regardless of environment or job type. Human hands are amazing feats of engineering with complex interactions among bones, muscles, and ligaments, but this makes them vulnerable to injury. And, if you think about it, there are hardly any jobs that can be done without the use of hands, which is why hand safety is vital for health and safety programs in every industry.
Minor hand injuries have a disproportionate impact compared with minor injuries elsewhere on the body. Hands are relatively delicate body parts that are always in use and easy to injure. A small cut on the skin of the leg, for example, may be a quick repair, but a cut of the same depth on a hand can cause permanent damage. Hand injuries take a long time to heal, resulting in time loss and lowered productivity. A comprehensive hand safety plan is crucial to a healthy workplace. Here’s how to get started.