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The 7 most dangerous jobs

On Behalf of | Jul 12, 2020 | Firm News |

Every job has its challenges. It could be the stress of a demanding office boss. It may be operating dangerous machinery. It might be working outdoors during the winter months. Recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics found that 5,250 people died on the job in 2018, which is the most recent year of complete numbers. This is a rate of 3.5 worker fatalities per 100,000 workers, which is slightly up from 2017.

Some workplaces are certainly more dangerous than others. Ideally, those dangerous jobs pay well, but that is not always the case.

The top 10

The numbers here factor the number of workers against the number of injuries and deaths:

  1. Loggers: The risks these workers face include dangerous equipment and falling objects, which killed 74 and 1,040 suffered severe injuries.
  2. Fisherman: Deadliest Catch is a TV show, but it’s a fact that there were 30 fatalities and an untold number of injuries.
  3. Pilots and flight engineers: The number of crashes is much higher in the private sector, adding up to 70 fatalities and 490 non-fatal injuries.
  4. Roofers: This is as dangerous as it looks with 96 injuries and countless instances of slip, trip and fall.
  5. Waste disposal: Working out of doors is great, but these employees operate heavy machinery all year round. This led to 37 fatalities and 1,490 severe injuries.
  6. Drivers: The number of workers in transportation is large, which translated into 966 deaths and 78,520 severe injuries.
  7. Agricultural workers: Farms have always been dangerous places and many workers these days also spend a lot of time traveling from farm to farm. There were 257 fatalities and 280 severe injuries.

Workers’ comp is not always the solution

Workers Compensation can be helpful for many who are injured on the job, and it may even provide death benefits. However, some workers or their families find it worthwhile to file a personal injury suit, particularly if there is no workers’ comp or the damage was not physical (defamation, invasion of privacy and inflicting emotional distress are examples).

The settlement or compensation often involves more substantial amounts of money, but specific criteria must be met for the case to move forward. Those with questions about whether their case qualifies should speak with an experienced personal injury attorney who handles workplace injuries.