There are certain industries that are commonly known to involve dangerous work, with aspects that are potentially deadly. Firefighters, police officers, and soldiers put themselves in harm’s way to do their jobs. In many ways, so do workers in construction, transportation, and even retail.
Some industries may not be quickly associated with dangerous jobs, but the U.S. Department of Labor keeps track of the industries that report the most fatal injuries. Some results are surprising.
How can Fatality Reporting Information Show the Industries Most Likely to Involve a Job-Related Death?
Fatal workplace injuries can be calculated in two ways: the number of overall deaths related to workplace accidents and the calculated percentage of employees in a certain field who are killed on the job. In other words, the more workers there are in a particular industry, the more likely that industry may be to experience accidents that result in a worker’s death.
Alternately, an industry with fewer employees that sees an outsize amount of workplace fatalities would also be considered among the deadliest work industries.
Which Industries Report the Highest Number of Workplace Fatalities?
When it comes to sheer numbers, the construction industry reports the most on-the-job fatalities. This is because there are so many workers in construction, which means there are more people doing dangerous jobs that could end up becoming the victim of a fatal work accident. There are several other industries in the same situation. Below is a list of the top 10 industries that report the highest numbers of fatal work injuries, largely because, with so many workers on the job, there are so many opportunities for one to become fatally injured.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), a division of the Department of Labor, reports the following figures for 2019, which lay out the overall counts of workplace fatalities in the top 10 most dangerous industries:
- Construction: 1,061
- Transportation and warehousing: 913
- Agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting: 573
- Government: 426
- Retail trade: 291
- Leisure and hospitality: 271
- Other services, excluding public administration: 210
- Educational and health services: 197
- Wholesale trade: 178
- Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction: 127
Another Way to Determine Industries Accounting for a Higher Share of Workplace Fatalities
Besides looking at the number of overall work-related deaths, it can be more informative to examine what percentage of workers in a particular industry are dying as a result of accidents that happen at work. It might stand to reason that industries that employ fewer people should experience fewer workplace accidents and fewer work-related deaths, but that is not always the case.
In fact, industries with a small amount of workers can be responsible for a much larger than average share of workplace fatalities. One such industry is at the top of the list: agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting. In 2019, this industry experienced 23.1 deaths per 100,000 workers, per the BLS. The list below lays out where this industry and others fall on the list of top 10 most deadly industries:
- Agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting: 23.1
- Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction: 14.6
- Transportation and warehousing: 13.9
- Construction: 9.7
- Wholesale trade: 4.9
- Other services, excluding public administration: 3
- Leisure and hospitality: 2.2
- Retail trade: 2
- Government: 1.8
- Educational and health services: 0.8
Downingtown Workers’ Compensation Lawyers at Wusinich, Sweeney & Ryan, LLC Represent Employees Injured on the Job
If you were hurt on the job or lost a loved one to a work accident, you should be able to collect benefits from the employer’s Workers’ Compensation program. Workers’ Compensation can provide payments for medical bills, lost wages, and other costs that resulted from the work-related injury. If your family member died of injuries they suffered in a work accident, you may be able to collect wrongful death benefits as well. The Downingtown Workers’ Compensation lawyers at Wusinich, Sweeney & Ryan, LLC have extensive experience helping injured workers and their families get the compensation they deserve after a serious or fatal workplace accident. Contact us online or call us at 610-594-1600 for a free consultation today. We are located in Exton, Pennsylvania, and we serve residents of Downingtown, West Chester, Exton, Coatesville, Phoenixville, Malvern, Lyndell, Wagontown, Uwchlan Township, Parkesburg, Chester Springs, Lancaster County, Reading, and Morgantown.