The Ten Most Dangerous Jobs in America

 Posted on December 00,0000 in Orland Park Personal Injury Lawyer

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) recently released its report on the ten most dangerous jobs in the country, based on workplace injuries and deaths from 2013. Although the bureau reports that the number of workplace fatalities were the second lowest since 1992, when they began recording this data, there were still 4,585 lives lost to workplace accidents.

According to the BLS, the people with the most dangerous jobs in the U.S. are those that work in the logging industry. There were 59 lives lost in logging accidents in 2013, which comes out to 91.3 fatalities for every 100,000 workers.

Fishermen, and other workers who are employed by fisheries, came in at number 2, with 27 work-related fatalities in 2013. The fatality rate for this occupation was 75 for every 100,000 workers.

There were 64 aircraft pilots and/or flight engineers killed on the job in 2013, coming in at number 3, with 50 fatalities for every 100,000 employees.

A common occupation – roofers – came in at number four in the BLS report. There were 72 roofers who were killed in 2013, which calculates out to 40 deaths for every 100,000 roofers in America.

The number five most dangerous job is done by trash and recycling collectors. There were 33 work-related deaths in 2013. The percentage rate of deaths in this field is 33 for every 100,000.

The mining industry has a reputation for being unsafe for workers and according to the report, this is particularly true for mining machine operators, with 16 lives lost due to on-the-job injuries in 2013 and placed number six on the list. For every 100,000 mining machine operators, 27 lose their lives on the job.

Employees who spend the majority of their work time on the road are at risk for fatal accidents. Truck drivers, as well as drivers who work in sales, came in at number seven on the list. There were 806 lives lost in 2013. Although the number of workers killed was much higher than the other categories, the sheer number of people who work as drivers means the fatality rate for every 100,000 drivers is 23.6.

There were 231 farmers and ranchers killed in 2013, which puts it eighth on the BLS list. The fatality rate for farmers is 22.9 for every 100,000.

Electric line workers came in at number nine on the list. The fatality rate for this occupation is 21.5 for every 100,000 after 27 line workers were killed on the job in 2013.

Number ten on the BLS list was construction laborers. A total of 220 laborers were killed on the job in 2013, making the fatality rate for this job 18.1 for every 100,000 construction laborers.

Every single one of these occupations can be found being performed by Illinois citizens, which means they are at higher risk for being involved in a work-related accident, which can ultimately be fatal. If you have been injured on the job – or have lost a loved one or family member in an industrial accident – contact an experienced Cook County personal injury attorney to find out what legal recourse you may have for your family’s pain and loss.