Generally speaking, our Pearland work injury lawyers remark that the four occupational categories with the highest rates of fatal injury in 2011 were:
Broken down into specific numerical order by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the most dangerous jobs in 2011 looked more like this:
Fishermen and related fishing workers had the highest rate of fatal work injury, at 121.2 per 100,000 full-time workers. But our Pearland work injury lawyers note that fishermen represent a fairly small percentage of the total Texas labor force, so the actual number of fatal work injuries, 40, was smaller than in many of the other categories.
Logging workers had the next highest rate at 102.4 with 64 fatalities.
Aircraft pilots and flight engineers suffered 57 deaths per 100,000 with a total of 72 fatal accidents.
Refuse and recyclable material collectors had a rate of 41.2. This is actually a very hazardous job. You may have noticed occasional news articles about the severe injuries, dismemberments, and fatal injuries that occur when workers get trapped by the moving parts of garbage trucks or crushed in the machines.
Roofers.
Structural iron and steel workers (construction).
Farmers, ranchers, and other agricultural managers with a rate of 25.3 per 100,000 and 260 fatalities.
Driver/sales workers and truck drivers with a rate of 24 and 759 fatal injuries. This represents the highest number of actual fatalities in any of these jobs, but because there are so many truck drivers in the state, many of them dedicated to the oil and gas extraction industry, the rate is only the eighth highest.
Electrical power line installers and repairers.
Taxi drivers and chauffeurs. Our Pearland work injury lawyers emphasize that being on the road a high proportion of the time increases a worker’s risk of fatal injury in a traffic accident.
As an example of what can happen on the job, a worker at a construction site near Texas State Route 363 in Temple, Texas was climbing down a ladder into a trench when he slipped and fell on Monday. The worker was extracted from the trench on a litter and conveyed to a hospital. The worker fortunately had relatively minor injuries. The Pearland work injury lawyers at Denena Points, PC mention that accidents involving falling, slipping, or tripping account for 14% of all fatal work injuries.
Continue to Part 2 to learn how employee or contractor status and whether your employer has workers’ comp insurance could make a BIG difference to your financial recovery after a serious accident injury.