This blog discusses common workers’ comp types of injuries, such as falls or cuts, and where on your body they occur, but not what type of work the person who received the injury was doing.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), part of the U.S. Department of Labor, released the 2017 numbers in late 2018. The BLS breaks down workplace accidents by whether they resulted in a fatality (death) or just an injury/illness.
The jobs listed below are listed in order by rates, or percentages. The rate compares the number of injuries or deaths compared to the number of people doing it, to more accurately measure how dangerous a profession is. Truck driving, for example, seems like the most dangerous occupation based on the number of people who are injured or killed doing it. However, there are thousands more truck drivers all over the road than there are pilots in the air, for example, so the total amount of truck drivers getting injured may be more but percentage of pilots getting hurt is higher.
In 2017, the numbers of injuries and deaths from workplace accidents were lower than in 2016, which is excellent news for American workers. The non-military types of jobs that had the most deaths (by percentages) are listed below, with the everyday names in parentheses where needed to make them more understandable.
• Fishing workers (fishermen)
• Logging workers (lumberjacks)
• Aircraft pilots and flight engineers (pilots)
• Roofers
• Refuse and recyclable material collectors (garbage collectors)
• Structural iron and steel workers (builders working with iron and steel)
• Driver/sales workers and truck drivers
• Farmers, ranchers, and other agricultural managers
• First-line supervisors of landscaping, lawn service, and groundskeeping workers (people doing landscaping work)
• Electrical power-line installers and repairers (electrical linemen)
These occupations share the common characteristics of working with heavy equipment, sometimes in hazardous conditions, and often not near hospitals and emergency medicine facilities so those injured are unable to receive prompt medical treatment. Families of individuals who are killed at work can receive death benefits.
The top occupations for injuries are not listed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics in the same way that deaths are. Looking at the raw data, manufacturing involving heavy equipment, healthcare, and people who are often on the roads such as couriers are high on the lists. Some other statistics are available, however. Almost 1/3 of injuries that took place at work resulted in days away from work to recover. If you get injured at work and need some time away to recover, you may be able to receive Temporary Total Disability Benefits. Manufacturing was singled out as an industry with a high level of employees missing work due to injury. The median number of days a manufacturing employee was out after being injured at work was 8 days, meaning that half of people were out fewer than 8 days and half of people were out longer than 8 days.
No matter your occupation, HammondTownsend can help you when you get injured at work. Call 888-580-9048 for a free consultation today.