An estimated three million individuals pass away annually as a result of work-related causes of illness or accidents. Falls from a height and slips or trips at the same level are regarded as some of the most common industrial accidents, along with accidents related to transportation.
After suffering a fall at work, hand injuries are the type of injury that most workers classify as very common. Injuries from falling and landing on your hands may result in fractures, injuries to the soft tissues, ligament strains, dislocations, lacerations, and deformities and dysfunction of the digits and tension of the nerves.
Hand injuries are frequent occurrences in the industrial sectors, including construction, manufacturing, health, warehousing, and transportation. Safety concerns in these areas can include negligence, such as the presence of wet floors or falls from heights or stairs, which can occur during flooring improvements.
Severe hand injuries require the help of a surgeon and physical therapy. These types of injuries can damage an individual for long periods of time and restrict their ability to work.
Let’s discuss the common hand injuries that a worker can suffer from following workplace falls.
Why Falls Cause Hand Injuries Specifically
People who fall sustain hand injuries when they try to soften their fall by using an outstretched hand. This action usually causes the wrist to bend backward. The resulting force and stress are transferred to the hands and fingers, causing immense damage.
Falls from a high elevation are often accompanied by the formation of higher kinetic energy, which tends to result in more severe consequences as compared to low falls. If the height of the fall is minimal, some fractures may still occur in any part of the body.
Falls that involve catching a tool, a railing, or a rope during descent can produce entirely different injury patterns, including avulsion fractures, tendon ruptures, and crush injuries.
According to Charlotte on-the-job injury lawyer Christian R. Ayers, employers have a responsibility to provide workers’ compensation coverage for employee accidents, and an experienced workplace injury attorney can help, regardless of what may have caused your accident at work.
Fractures: The Most Common Serious Injury
Fractures of the hand and wrist account for a significant portion of fall-related occupational injuries. The fractures listed below are the ones that occur more frequently:
- Scaphoid fracture: Scaphoid bone forms part of the wrist joint and is a carpal bone. It is frequently seen broken from the fall’s impact, which happens following an outstretched hand on a firm surface. Scaphoid bone fractures, also called carpal fractures, are quite frequently misdiagnosed as sprained wrists since the fracture is often not visible on the initial X-ray. Failing to detect a scaphoid fracture straight away can lead to avascular necrosis (bone death) and subsequent persisting dysfunction of the wrist joint.
- Distal radius fracture (Colles fracture): A Colles fracture refers to a fracture in the distal surface of the radius bones, particularly near the wrist and this kind of injury points the wrist on the same plane as the hand. This type of fracture is most commonly seen in adults and typically occurs when a person falls and tries to prevent or soften the impact by extending their hand.
- Metacarpal fractures: Metacarpal fractures are often referred to as fractures in the long bones of the hand, which are situated between the wrist and the fingers. The fourth and the fifth metacarpals, specifically, are typically more prone to damages, especially when a physical blow is directed diagonally to the hands on a hard object.
- Phalanx fractures are basically breaks of the finger bones, from small chip-like fractures near the joint edge up to displaced shaft fractures that may actually need surgical fixation. Spiral-type fractures have an extra challenge since they tend to bring rotational malalignment along with them. Alignment issues may destroy the capabilities of the fingers until they are restored properly.
Sprains, Dislocations, and Ligament Injuries
Not all falls of the hand and wrist damage the surrounding bones. Not every hand injury from a fall involves bone. The hand ligaments at the fingers and thumb sustain injuries since falls require people to forcefully bend and twist their fingers.
Two specific types of thumb injuries are regarded as Skier’s thumb and gamekeeper’s thumb, both of which occur when the thumb is forced away from the palm. The injury occurs during falls that involve using poles, tools, or ropes and people often mistake it for a common sprain.
Finger dislocations at the proximal interphalangeal joints (PIP joints) occur as common injuries during falls. Most finger dislocations appear minor but they frequently involve damage to the volar plate, which is the ligamentous structure on the palm side of the joint. This injury can lead to chronic instability.
Tendon and Nerve Injuries
Incidents such as falls involving sharp objects, shattered bottles, knife‐like metal edges, or machinery parts can lead to lacerated tendons or nerves in the hand. Flexor tendon lacerations cause finger bending problems that need surgical treatment within days after the injury. Prompt medical action can help prevent scarring that makes recovery more technically difficult.
Surgeons find it easier to operate on extensor tendon injuries, which occur across the dorsal hand and fingers. These surgeons must evaluate the situation without delay.
Nerve injuries in the hand from falls produce numbness, tingling, or weakness in specific distributions. When the median nerve sustains injury, it affects the thumb, index, middle fingers, and the radial side of the ring finger. Ulnar nerve injury affects the small finger and the ulnar side of the ring finger.
Digital nerve injuries at the fingers produce localized numbness on one or both sides of an affected finger. The injuries can happen through direct laceration which involves stretching or compression.
Immediate Steps After a Fall-Related Hand Injury
Most people involved in a fall get up quickly and return to work as normal. The urge to resume activities after suffering a hand or wrist injury leads to more severe medical consequences.
Using a fractured scaphoid in conducting daily activities develops permanent harm. A tendon that suffers from a partial laceration can escalate to a more serious rupture if one disregards this injury.
After a hand injury from a workplace fall, remove rings or bracelets before swelling starts. Wrap an ice pack in a cloth for some 15 to 20 minutes and apply it to the affected area. Avoid using the affected body part and inform the appropriate personnel immediately in compliance with OSHA regulations.
Employers are required to keep a record of on-the-job injuries that confine an employee to home or prescribe light duty or medical treatment beyond first aid.
The medical evaluation process must proceed without interruptions. Imaging tests should be performed for any fall that results in pain and swelling. When sustained pain in any body part or a limitation in movement prevents a person from functioning, such tests are also important.
Doctors should be guided by their clinical judgment in seeking necessary advanced imaging, knowing that these and many other scaphoid fractures are often misdiagnosed without the use of CT or MRI scans when necessary.
Workers’ Compensation and Your Rights
All states provide workers’ compensation coverage for work-related hand injuries from falls, which occur to employees regardless of who caused the accident. Workers’ compensation provides medical treatment for the injury and wage replacement benefits during recovery.
The state workers’ compensation system establishes permanent partial disability awards for occupational hand injuries that cause permanent impairment. The awarding of benefits will depend on the severity of the hand and finger injury and other factors.
The worker must report the injury to protect both the claim and their physical recovery, which requires them to follow the authorized treating physician’s treatment plan. Insurers frequently dispute claims when they identify instances of delayed reporting or treatment interruptions.
The U.S. Department of Labor provides workers’ compensation resources for federal employees. Each state administers a distinct program for private sector workers.
