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Dying To Work: America's Most Dangerous Jobs
Dan Ackman, 09.03.02, 8:00 AM ET
NEW YORK - Normally, the Bureau of Labor Statistics releases its workplace safety data in August, before Labor Day. This year the data will be delayed a month because of Sept. 11. That date, on which more than 3,000 people died, most of them at work, will skew the workplace fatality data dramatically. But in a normal year, like 2000, the most dangerous jobs do not involve firefighting or police work; they involve cutting timber and fishing.
The number of people who died at work in 2000 is 5,915. This includes people who died of a heart attack while sitting at their desks, as well as those who died in the course of specific duties, such as a cop gunned down by a bank robber. But while police and firefighter deaths make the news, neither job is among the most fatal, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports--at least not in a normal year.
America's Most Dangerous Jobs
Job Number Of Fatalities Fatality Rate*
Timber Cutters 105 122.1
Fishermen 52 108.3
Pilots 230 100.8
Structural Metal Workers 47 59.5
Extractive Occupations 69 53.9
Roofers 65 30.2
Construction Workers 288 28.3
Truck Drivers 852 27.6
All Occupations 5,915 4.3
All data for calendar year 2000. *Deaths per 100,000 employed. Sources: Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Dept. of Labor
In 2000, timber cutters had the most dangerous job, suffering 122 deaths per 100,000 employed. These workers toil in the woods accessible by dirt roads, with heavy machinery and amongst falling trees. The second most dangerous occupation is fishing, with fishermen dying at a rate of 108 per 100,000 of those employed. Airplane pilots have the third most dangerous occupation, with a death rate of 101 per 100,000. Nearly all of these deaths resulted from small-plane crashes, not on passenger jets.
Structural metal workers and what the BLS calls extractive occupations (mining and drilling) round out the list of the top five most dangerous occupations, though neither group dies on the job at even half the rate of timber cutters. Nationwide, 142 police officers and 43 firefighters died on the job in 2000.
The third most common cause of death on the job in 2000 was homicide, which claimed 677 workers. Fifty cops were murdered. But so were 205 salespeople. Falls were the second most common cause of death, accounting for 12% of the total. Not surprisingly, roofers and structural metal workers were the most likely to meet this fate.
The most common cause of death on the job in 2000, however, was the car accident, accounting for 23% of the total. Even police officers were slightly more likely to die behind the wheel than by homicide.
Dan Ackman, 09.03.02, 8:00 AM ET
NEW YORK - Normally, the Bureau of Labor Statistics releases its workplace safety data in August, before Labor Day. This year the data will be delayed a month because of Sept. 11. That date, on which more than 3,000 people died, most of them at work, will skew the workplace fatality data dramatically. But in a normal year, like 2000, the most dangerous jobs do not involve firefighting or police work; they involve cutting timber and fishing.
The number of people who died at work in 2000 is 5,915. This includes people who died of a heart attack while sitting at their desks, as well as those who died in the course of specific duties, such as a cop gunned down by a bank robber. But while police and firefighter deaths make the news, neither job is among the most fatal, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports--at least not in a normal year.
America's Most Dangerous Jobs
Job Number Of Fatalities Fatality Rate*
Timber Cutters 105 122.1
Fishermen 52 108.3
Pilots 230 100.8
Structural Metal Workers 47 59.5
Extractive Occupations 69 53.9
Roofers 65 30.2
Construction Workers 288 28.3
Truck Drivers 852 27.6
All Occupations 5,915 4.3
All data for calendar year 2000. *Deaths per 100,000 employed. Sources: Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Dept. of Labor
In 2000, timber cutters had the most dangerous job, suffering 122 deaths per 100,000 employed. These workers toil in the woods accessible by dirt roads, with heavy machinery and amongst falling trees. The second most dangerous occupation is fishing, with fishermen dying at a rate of 108 per 100,000 of those employed. Airplane pilots have the third most dangerous occupation, with a death rate of 101 per 100,000. Nearly all of these deaths resulted from small-plane crashes, not on passenger jets.
Structural metal workers and what the BLS calls extractive occupations (mining and drilling) round out the list of the top five most dangerous occupations, though neither group dies on the job at even half the rate of timber cutters. Nationwide, 142 police officers and 43 firefighters died on the job in 2000.
The third most common cause of death on the job in 2000 was homicide, which claimed 677 workers. Fifty cops were murdered. But so were 205 salespeople. Falls were the second most common cause of death, accounting for 12% of the total. Not surprisingly, roofers and structural metal workers were the most likely to meet this fate.
The most common cause of death on the job in 2000, however, was the car accident, accounting for 23% of the total. Even police officers were slightly more likely to die behind the wheel than by homicide.
that it makes me think the number is wrong.
) I would throw this PC out the window and pick up my saw again. 
