When “the accident” happens, your first thought may be, “Did I really just do that?” Or perhaps something stronger. But yes, it happened. And after the quick-care doctor says you’ll be out of work for weeks, the questions will pile up.
How did this happen to me?
Accidents are not a question of if. We all have them. But few of us are taken out of action by something dramatic. We get sidelined by ordinary, familiar things we all do until one day the timing is just a little off. We look the wrong way. We miss a step. We reach too far. A multi-week injury is not something that happens only to other people. It happens to most of us eventually.
What the data tells us
Workers in their late teens and twenties are injured most often — more than twice the injury rate of those in their 50s — but these injuries tend to be sprains, lacerations, and strains that resolve within days. The shift occurs in the middle of your career. Workers aged 55-64 have injuries that keep them out of work considerably longer. The median number of days off climbs steadily with age.
Two reasons, and they compound. First, the same injury heals more slowly as you age — a meniscus tear that took ten days to walk off in your twenties may take six weeks in your fifties. Second, certain injuries cluster in the 40-60 range: lower back strains, rotator cuff problems, meniscus tears, and Achilles ruptures. They’re usually triggered by something ordinary, like lifting a box or stepping off a curb at an awkward angle.
The most common accidents
Falls – no surprise – are the leading category. They include slipping on a wet bathroom floor, missing the bottom step, and the classic homeowner accidents of cleaning gutters, changing a light bulb, or pruning a tree that’s almost within reach. A broken bone can mean four to six weeks in a cast. A severe sprain can take three to six months to heal.
Lower back injuries tend to happen at the worst possible time, usually while doing something you’ve done a thousand times before — lifting a suitcase, picking up a child, helping a friend move a couch. A herniated disc or serious strain often means a month or more of physical therapy. All it takes is lifting one heavy thing the wrong way, one time.
Recreational sports account for a large share of severe, multi-week injuries among working adults. Ruptured Achilles tendons that can take up to a year to recover from are especially common in pickup basketball. Torn ACLs, separated shoulders, and serious knee injuries follow close behind, often requiring months of recovery. Recreational or sport cycling can result in fractures or long-lasting concussion symptoms. Even running can cause a stress fracture if you ramp up too quickly, six to eight weeks off your feet.
The less obvious ones include kitchen injuries (severed tendons from a knife slip and burns from ovens or boiling water), DIY power-tool accidents (table saws, miter saws, nail guns), infected dog bites, pedestrian accidents that result in concussions or fractures even at low speeds, and whiplash from low-speed car accidents.
Almost none of these are “workplace accidents.”
The most likely thing to take you away from your job for multiple weeks happens on a weekend morning at home, while you’re doing something you’ve done a hundred times. The wet bathroom floor, the heavy box, the sharp knife, the old ladder, and a single moment of inattention can turn any of those into a six-week recovery.
What will happen to my paycheck?
This is the big question. If your accident happened outside of work, you’ll need to know whether you have disability insurance. It may be the only thing standing between you and an unpaid leave of absence. This is a critical gap most workers don’t realize exists until they need it.
Hey, wait – I didn’t have an accident. Well, not yet.
If you’re a worker, find out which income protection plans your employer offers and whether you’re enrolled. You may need to pay a portion of the disability insurance cost, but it’s one of the best, most affordable steps you can take.
If you’re an employer, having a skilled employee out of work for six or eight weeks without income can cause severe financial strain. Disability coverage is one of the most cost-effective ways to protect your employees and your business continuity.
The injury is going to happen.
If not to you, to someone in your life. A family member, a teammate, an employee. The accident is largely unavoidable. The financial part of the recovery doesn’t have to be.
