If you think your job is bad, spare a thought for those who risk death making a living every day. The BLS estimates that there are somewhere on the order of 3.5 fatalities per 100,000 workers every year in the US. That translates to around 14,000 deaths every year, or about as many people that live in your average small town.
Things have improved, though. When statistics were first collected, fatalities at work were running at ten times the rate as they are today. And there wasn’t the same level of legal groups, like Mace Law, to fight for injured workers.
Though the professions may have changed, people are still getting killed or injured at work at an alarming rate. Here are the most dangerous jobs in America.
Athletes
Fatalities among athletes are currently running at around three to four times the national average. Why? Well, the answer to that isn’t entirely obvious. Sure, a lot of players are killed by horrific injuries on the field. But the biggest risk that athletes face is the amount of time they spend on the road. Football and basketball teams spend large chunks of their time going from stadium to stadium. As a result, they often wind up in dangerous vehicular collisions.
Operating Engineers And Construction Equipment Operators
Operating engineers and equipment operators are the people in charge of heavy equipment on building sites. Workers drive around and maneuver across dangerous work sites. They have to operate in all weather conditions. As a result, many wind up getting into trouble, and some are sadly killed. Right now, there are 12 fatalities per 100,000 operating engineers and equipment operators. That’s nearly four times the national average. Most incidents involve workers being struck by machinery or being hit by falling objects.
Coal Mining
Donald Trump wants to reopen the mines to create jobs for Americans in Ohio and North Carolina. But is that such a good idea? According to the statistics, there are 13 deaths per 100,000 mine workers. And even though safety in the professional has increased dramatically, it’s still bad for employee’s health. The most common cause of incidents was again coming into contact with heavy equipment. The next, as in the case of athletes, was accidents related to transportation.
Police And Sheriff’s Patrol Officers
Even before the recent spree of police shootings, being in the police was dangerous work. The statistics indicate the police suffer 18.6 injuries per 100,000 full-time workers in any given year. This year, that figure will go higher. Violence was responsible for 60 percent of deaths involving police officers. Road traffic accidents account for the majority of the rest. Nobody ever said that fighting crime was easy. In 2010, the average police office got a pay packet totaling $55,010.
Taxi Drivers
With the rise of Uber, taxi drivers may soon be a thing of the past. And, in the future, we may celebrate the end of the profession. It turns out that driving a taxi around the streets of New York is more dangerous than being a coal miner. In 2011 alone, 64 taxi drivers lost their lives.
