You are right, there is the potential for injury, and some people herniate discs. But more people hurt themselves putting the lawn mower in the truck than in the gym. I took a look and the only statistic I could find for rate of herniated discs in a population (in this case Finland and Italy https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2907819/) was 1-3% - those aren't all caused by lifting. I've even found a website that was concerned about runners developing herniated disc (https://runnerclick.com/herniated-disc/) Life causes herniated discs, and can happen naturally with age as well. I don't mean to downplay that it can and does happen, and that sucks when it's so bad it's debilitating, but steering clear of the gym won't prevent it.

An injury is a fact of life. How many people tear ACL's during soccer practice or skiing? But then people tear their ACL's falling the shower as well. Any activity has built in risks.