Lumbermen have the most dangerous job, according to a CNN/Money report. The mortality rate among lumbermen, 118 timber cutters per 100,000 workers, heads the list of the top 10 most dangerous jobs in America for 2002 (latest available data) put out by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and was more than 26 times that of the average U.S. worker. Fishermen were second with 71 fatalities per 100,000 workers, with drowning the most common cause of death. Commercial pilot comes in third with 70 fatalities per 100,000 workers. Most pilot fatalities come from general aviation; bush pilots, air-taxi pilots, and crop-dusters die at a far higher rate than airline pilots. Alaskan workers skew the profession's data. Recent National Institute for Occupational Health and Safety (NIOSH) stats indicate that they have a fatality rate four times higher than those in the lower 48. "Alaskan pilots have a one in eight chance of dying during a 30-year career," says George Conway of NIOSH in the report, from October 13, 2003. A surprise entry on the list of the top ten most dangerous jobs is driver-sales workers, which includes pizza delivers, vending machine fillers, and the like. These workers are often self-employed. Traffic accidents contributed heavily to their high fatality rate of 38 per 100,000, but they also suffered from crime; nearly a quarter of their deaths came from robberies and assaults. In terms of sheer numbers, more truck drivers - 808 – died on the job than any other vocation in the top ten. But because there are so many truckers, their fatality rate is only 25 per 100,000, giving them tenth place on the list. Truckers die, mostly in traffic accidents, at six times the average rate but less than a quarter the rate of timber cutters. 1. timber cutters – Fatality rate per 100,000 workers – 117.8 2. fishers – 71.1 3. pilots and navigators – 69.8 4. structural metal workers – 58.2 5. driver-sales workers – 37.9 6. roofers - 37.0 7. electrical power installers – 32.5 8. farm occupations – 28.0 9. construction laborers – 27.7 10. truck drivers – 25.0
0 Comments