roofers

There are just some jobs that are inherently dangerous. But do you know which ones have the highest rate of death and injury? Some people tend to think of first responders, like firefighters and police officers who rush into the face of danger. Others are more familiar with television shows like “Deadliest Catch”, which portray the hazards of working on king crab fishing boats. There are two different statistics for measuring worker danger: one is by the highest total number of deaths and injuries, and the other is by the rate of deaths or injuries per 100,000. Though construction site injuries account for the first, the profession with the highest work injury rate per thousand is logging.

Overall, the five deadliest American jobs by work injury rate in 2016 were as follows:

  • Logging, at 135.9 fatal injuries per 100,000 full-time workers
  • Fishers and related fishing workers, at 86
  • Aircraft pilots and flight engineers, at 55.5
  • Roofers, at 48.6
  • Refuse and recyclable material collectors, at 34.1

But the fact that the construction industry is not included in terms of rate per 100,000 belies the fact that construction jobs have the dubious distinction of having the highest number of fatalities in all industries, representing 19.9% of all worker deaths in 2016, and 22.2% of deaths involving private industry jobs.

The construction jobs that have the highest number of fatal injuries rank as follows:

  • Roofers
  • Iron and steel workers
  • First-line supervisors
  • Laborers
  • Operating engineers and equipment operators
  • Electricians
  • Painters
  • Carpenters
  • Pipelayers and plumbers

The wide range of occupations represented on construction sites mean that there are many different ways that construction site injuries occur. One of the top causes of construction worker deaths is transportation incidents, which can occur either onsite or offsite. Leaving out these types of accidents, the top four causes of construction site injury deaths are:

  • Falls, slips, and trips, which account for 39% of fatal injuries
  • Being struck by an object, which accounts for 9% of fatal injuries
  • Electrocutions, which account for 8% of fatal injuries
  • Being caught in between, which accounts for 7% of fatal injuries

Though some of these injuries are true accidents, many are the result of negligence or carelessness. If someone you love suffered a construction site injury, you need compassionate and aggressive legal representation. Contact Bochetto & Lentz today for information on how we can help.