Worker Fatalities: What are the Most Dangerous Jobs in 2019?

Gauging the Risk of On-the-Job Death for Workers Today: Different Findings 

Last December, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released its annual National Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries.  The BLS approaches death statistics for workers who suffered fatal injuries while on the job from two vantage points: (1) the total number of worker deaths during the year which have been caused by injuries sustained in an on-the-job incident; and (2) the fatal injury rate, or the percentage of deaths according to industry.

In 2017, the BLS reported that the number of fatal work injuries in the United States was almost the same as the previous year (5147 fatalities in 2017 compared to 5190 deaths in 2016).

During 2017, the fatal injury rate was almost the same, as well (3.5:100,000 workers in 2017 compared to 3.6:100,000 workers in 2016).

From the BLS news release, we know:

1. Fatal falls were at their highest level in the 26-year history of the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI);
2. Transportation incidents remained the most frequent fatal event;
3. Unintentional overdoses due to nonmedical use of drugs or alcohol while at work increased 25%; additionally, 2017 was the fifth consecutive year in which unintentional workplace overdose deaths increased by at least 25%;
4. Fatal occupational injuries involving confined spaces rose 15% to 166 in 2017 from 144 in 2016.

For more, read our discussion in “The Most Dangerous Jobs in Illinois and Indiana: 2019.”

ELSToday Releases Annual Top Ten List of Most Dangerous Jobs in 2019

This month, ELSToday released its annual analysis of the BLS findings, written by Northern Illinois University graduate Dave Blanchard, ranking the “Top 10 Most Dangerous Jobs of 2019.”

ELS Today provides news coverage related to safety, health, and industrial hygiene professionals in the manufacturing, construction, and service sectors about trends, management strategies, regulatory news and new products that help them provide safe and healthy work sites. 

So, this study is being performed from a health and safety reporting perspective.

ELS Today List: The Safety Viewpoint

The safety perspective lists the following as the ten most deadly jobs with the highest risk a worker will die from injuries sustained on the job:

1. Fishers and Related Fishing Workers
2. Logging Workers
3. Aircraft Pilots and Flight Engineers
4. Roofers
5. Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors
6. Structural Iron and Steel Workers
7. Truck Drivers and Other Drivers
8. Farmers, Ranchers and Agricultural Managers
9. Grounds Maintenance Workers
10. Electrical Power-Line Installers & Repairers.

Advisor Smith’s Study on the Ten Deadliest Jobs in America

In another independent study of federal worker fatality data, Advisor Smith recently released its own list of the top twenty deadliest jobs in the United States today.

Advisor Smith is a company providing business insurance advice to companies in deciding what insurance coverage is best for their business. 

So, this study is being performed from an employer’s insurance perspective.

From its standpoint, there is a concerning rise in worker fatalities when looking at longer time periods: its study points out there has been an “incredible 12% rise over the five-year period” in worker deaths.  Another major concern voiced in their findings: “self-employed workers were four-and-a-half times more likely to die on the job compared with hourly and salaried workers.”

AdvisorSmith List: Deadliest Jobs and The Insurance Viewpoint

Considering 384 professions with at least 10,000 workers, AdvisorSmith found the following to be the 10 most deadliest jobs in the United States today:

1. Logging workers (most often caused by contact with logging machines or logs).
2. Fishers and related fishing workers (most common cause is drowning).
3. Sailors and marine oilers (most common cause is drowning).
4. Aircraft pilots and flight engineers (most common cause is privately-owned plane crash).
5. Paving, surfacing, and tamping equipment operators (most common cause is getting hit by construction equipment or in crashes with other motor vehicles).
6. Dredge, excavating, and loading machine operators (most common cause is when dredge equipment sinks).
7. Derrick, rotary drill, and service unit operators, oil, gas, and mining (most common cause is transportation incidents).
8. Other transportation workers (most common cause is transportation incidents).
9. Roofers (most common cause is falling from roof).
10. Maintenance workers, machinery (most common cause is contact with equipment).

Worker Deaths: Dying on the Job in Indiana or Illinois

There is a lesson to be learned from a comparison of the BLS listing of the most dangerous jobs in the country compared to the perspectives of the safety industry and insurers.  Anyone going to work in Indiana or Illinois today on a job that requires them to work with heavy equipment or hazardous conditions must be aware of the risk they face each day.

No one knows the most dangerous job, it’s debated.  When someone is killed when working, then for that victim and his or her family, the answer is simple: the job that took that person’s life was the most dangerous job in the country.

Whether someone in Indiana or Illinois is working on docks or fishing boats, driving a big rig, working construction, or flying private planes, they face the possibility that they may suffer a bodily injury so serious that it will be fatal.

For workers and their loved ones, it is imperative that this cruel reality is met with caution during the work day – and the reality that all too often, employers will sacrifice safety standards and worker protections because of cost concerns.  Workers need to be vigilant to protect themselves from harm on the job. 

See, e.g.,:  2018 OSHA Top Ten List of Most Violated Federal Worker Safety Regulations.

If you or a loved one has been seriously injured or killed while working on the job, then there are laws in place in both Indiana and Illinois to provide justice to these worker injury victims.  Sometimes, workers compensation laws provide redress; in other instances, private actions based upon negligence or product liability laws may apply.  Please be careful out there!