Injuries are quite common in the workplace, whether it’s a simple paper cut or someone falls off a ladder while stocking shelves. Every job carries some level of risk, no matter how small, which is why many employers are required to have workers’ compensation insurance. However, most of these risks don’t pose a threat to workers every day, and there are some jobs where the risk of being injured (or even killed) is high every single day. Here’s a list of six jobs that you may not have realized are dangerous.
#1: Logging Workers
Logging workers cut down trees in order to make paper, wood, and other materials. This job requires its workers to be outside in the woods and forests for the majority of the day, using heavy machinery to cut down and harvest the trees. The biggest threat to logging workers is accidents caused by the logging machines and falling trees. This occupation has one of the highest fatality rates at 111 per 100,000 workers.
#2: Roofers
This is an occupation that many people don’t think of as being particularly dangerous. In fact, many homeowners attempt to repair their roofs themselves to avoid having to pay a professional roofer. It’s even more dangerous for a non-professional to attempt to repair or replace a roof than it already is for a roofer. Roofers have a work fatality rate of 41 per 100,000 workers. What makes this a dangerous job is that the roofers are working from a height.
#3: Construction Workers
Continuing with working from a height, construction workers have a pretty dangerous job as well. They’re often working from greater heights than most roofers, increasing the likelihood of death from a fall. Construction workers are also likely to become seriously injured from slipping on and tripping over equipment on the construction sites. Luckily, improvements in technology and artificial intelligence have made the work environment safer for construction workers, making their fatality rate about 15 per 100,000.
#4: Garbage Collectors
This is another occupation that may have you wondering how it could potentially be dangerous for its workers. Garbage collectors drive through a variety of neighborhoods collecting trash from trash bins, Because the bins are located along the side of the road, garbage collectors are at risk for being hit by another vehicle. While this is a very preventable problem, their work fatality rate is still at 34 per 100,000 workers.
#5: Police Officers
It’s not surprising that police officers have made this list, due to the fact that it’s very well-known that they have a dangerous job. Job duties can range from something as simple as issuing a citation to something as complex as investigating a missing persons case. However, both of these tasks can be equally dangerous if the officer encounters a violent person. The fatality rate for police officers is 14 per every 100,000 workers, making their job just as risky as a construction worker’s job.
#6: Railroad Workers
Railroad workers probably aren’t thought of as much because trains aren’t a major source of transportation for many people. However, trains are still widely used to transport goods and services, and railroad workers are needed because of this. They have a particularly high risk of death (13 per 100 workers), and most of these railroad worker deaths resulted from falls and from being struck by trains or other vehicles.
These are just a few examples of some of the most dangerous jobs, as there are many more. Many of these jobs can be (and have been) made a lot safer with the help of technological advancements. One way to make the workplace safer is to ensure that all safety regulations that have been put in place are being followed correctly and the workers aren’t being rushed. Still, sometimes the dangerous nature of a job is due to outside forces, such as careless civilians.
