When working in the field of construction, you face varied dangers and a good chunk of them will hold a higher risk for you than the risks at other jobs. This can include the risk of a crush injury.
But what is a crush injury? How does it impact your health in the short and long term? Just how serious are they in the grand scheme of things?
Trunk crush injuries
Medline Plus looks into crush injuries, which affect construction workers at a high rate. Crush injuries occur when part of your body ends up run over, pinned or otherwise flattened by a larger and/or heavy object. These accidents happen with the highest rate of frequency at any job that involves industrial machinery or heavy equipment.
The two primary categories a crush injury can fall into are trunk and extremity. With a trunk crush injury, something pins or crushes the majority of your torso area. The biggest threat with this type of injury is the possibility of organ failure, which may occur if blood flow does not properly provide organs with enough oxygen to function. Blood poisoning may also occur.
Extremity crush injuries
Extremity crush injuries involve the hands, feet, legs and arms. One of the biggest risks is that of amputation, which has a high possibility of occurring depending on the amount of force behind the injury and how long it takes to get treatment. Gangrene and necrosis may set in quickly and the tissue may die off as blood cannot supply the limbs with oxygen. Sepsis may also occur, which can potentially become fatal.