Not only are some industries more hazardous than others, but some are more dangerous than might be expected. Employers and employees in Texas should consider the list of the top 10 most dangerous jobs in the U.S., which were recently compiled based on data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The BLS, in its 2016 Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries, has also calculated the fatal work injury rate and the number of deaths in each industry listed.
Logging workers, fishers and fishing workers, aircraft pilots and flight engineers, roofers and trash and recycling collectors formed the top five categories. The riskiest industry, logging, had a fatal work injury rate of 135.9 per 100,000 workers (full-time or the equivalent). The last five in the top 10 were iron and steel workers, truck and sales drivers, farmers and ranchers, construction managers and grounds maintenance workers.
This isn’t to say that logging workers incurred the most fatalities. There were 91 logging worker deaths in 2016; on the other hand, there were 918 truck and sales driver deaths. Transportation accidents accounted for the most on-the-job fatalities (40 percent), killing 632 truck drivers, 116 farmers and 62 groundskeepers. Workplace violence, which includes robbery, assault and cases of workers killing co-workers, was the second most common factor.
It seems that no amount of workplace safety training and other precautions will completely prevent accidents. However, injured employees have the right to restitution regardless of who was at fault. The workers’ compensation program can pay out for medical expenses and a percentage of the wages lost during the physical recovery. Death benefits cover burial expenses and can set up eligible dependents for structured payments based on the decedent’s weekly wage. Before filing, victims can retain a lawyer. The lawyer can help mount the appeal if the claim is denied.