Transportation industry tops list of dangerous professions

Texans who work hard and perform their jobs diligently will try to avoid negative thoughts that an accident could happen and lead to injuries and death. However, it is an unavoidable reality that a fatal workplace accident can happen at any job and leave a family without a loved one and wondering how they will make ends meet. It is beneficial to pay attention to the statistics of fatal workplace accidents, which jobs are the most dangerous, and how these fatal accidents occur.

According to the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries for 2016 from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the riskiest jobs in the U.S. are performed by pilots, fishermen and loggers. In total, there were close to 5,200 work fatalities in 2016. That came to around 3.6 deaths for every 100,000 fulltime workers. This was a rise of close to 6 percent from the previous year. Loggers have 135.9 fatal accidents for every 100,000 workers. Also part of the top 10 riskiest jobs were farmers, truck drivers and roofers.

The highest number of fatal accidents occurred in the transportation industry at 40 percent of all deaths on the job. Among them were 632 truckers, 116 farmers, and 62 groundkeepers. Workplace homicides are a growing problem having surpassed people falling, slipping and tripping in the number of people who were killed in such an incident. While there is a belief that workplace homicides happen when a fellow worker goes to the job and begins killing people, the truth is that many of these deaths come about during robberies and assaults.

People who work in any job are at risk of an unfortunate accident befalling them and causing their death. When there is an unexpected death on the job, the aftermath will go beyond the lost income from the loved one who can no longer provide for the family. There will be funeral expenses, the loss of companionship, possible pain and suffering the person suffered before succumbing to the injuries, the mental and emotional stress on the part of the family, and more. Having legal assistance to consider a lawsuit after a fatal workplace accident is imperative. A lawyer who is experienced in wrongful death litigation can help.

Source: Time.com, “The Top 10 Most Dangerous Jobs in America,” David Johnson, Dec. 22, 2017