It's obvious to every tradesperson that an injury can happen to anyone — despite the common workplace belief that “it won’t happen to me.”
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2022, U.S. employers reported 2.8 million nonfatal on-the-job injuries and illnesses. Most of those — 2.3 million — were injuries. Globally, an estimated 374 million workers suffer nonfatal injuries each year, according to the UN Global Compact.
About two-thirds (65 percent) occur in Asia, followed by Africa (11.8 percent), Europe (11.7 percent), the Americas (10.9 percent) and Oceania (0.6 percent). Job-related deaths are four to five times higher in Africa and Asia than in Europe.
As Roofing Contractor’s sister publication, ISHN, annually reports, some jobs — when measured by the number of fatalities — are more dangerous.
In the U.S., most of this work occurs outdoors, sometimes in harsh weather conditions, often working alone or in isolated areas, working with job-specific heavy equipment, many times involving transportation, and often with little or no formal safety training.
And the ‘reward’ for many of these high-risk jobs, in terms of income, carries no substantial bonus. Salaries range from $34,790 (agricultural workers) to $189,620 (aircraft pilots and engineers). In 2024, the average annual salary for blue-collar workers is $47,514.
Just three of the top ten most dangerous jobs have annual average incomes at or below the national figure; only two have salaries above $60,000.
The Top Ten Most Dangerous Jobs — 2024
The top ten most dangerous jobs in the U.S. in 2024, in terms of fatalities per 100,000 full-time workers, are based on 2022 BLS data:
- Logging
- Roofing
- Fishing and hunting
- Construction trade helpers
- aircraft piloting and flight engineering
- Trucking
- Refuse and recycling collection
- Iron and steel construction, demolition and rehabilitation
- Mining
- Agricultural work
Using 2021 BLS data of non-fatal injuries, these are the three jobs from the top 10 with the most injuries per 100 full-time workers:
- airline and helicopter piloting (5.4);
- fishing and hunting (4.2);
- and iron and steel work (3.7).
According to the BLS, the national average was 2.7 cases per 100 full-timers in 2022. Forestry and logging, mining, construction, and local trucking deliveries had 2022 incident rates lower than the average. Agricultural work ranged from 5.0 to 2.7 cases.
What makes the most dangerous jobs more lethal? The national rate of fatalities per 100,000 workers in 2022 was 3.7. The rates for the top ten most dangerous jobs, based on 2022 BLS data:
- Logging – 100.7 per 100,000 workers
- Roofing – 57.5
- Fishing and hunting – 50.9
- Construction trade helpers – 38.5
- Air transportation – 35.9
- Delivery trucking and commercial trucking – 30.4
- Refuse and recycling – 22.6
- Iron and steel – 21.3
- Mining – 20.1
- Agricultural workers – 20.0
Contributing Factors
Let’s look at some of the causes of fatalities that characterize the most dangerous jobs:
1. Logging Workers
- Massive workload harvesting thousands of acres of forests annually
- Frequent isolated work
- Frequent poor weather conditions
- Operating specialized logging machinery
- Common practice of on-the-job safety training
2. Roofers
- Work is often done at great heights
- Frequent poor weather conditions
- Frequent neglect of fall protection equipment
- Safety skills learned on the job, if not through apprenticeships
3. Fishing and Hunting Workers
- Trapping and hunting on boats, in forests and other isolated areas
- Use of specialized equipment, including traps, nets, guns and more
- On-the-job safety learning is common
- Routine travel to remote locations makes transportation-related incidents the leading cause of injuries and fatalities
4. Construction Trade Helpers
- Frequent use of heavy equipment
- Working at heights very common
- Wind, heat, cold, sudden storms are frequent work conditions
- Safety training is on the job if not through apprenticeships
- Falls, caught in or between objects, struck by objects and electrocutions are commonly referred to as the “fatal four”
5. Aircraft Pilots and Flight Engineers
- Greatest risk comes when traveling in private planes and helicopters rather than commercial aircraft
6. Delivery and Truck Drivers
- Most work hours are spent on the road, making the risk of vehicle crashes far greater than normal
7. Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors
- Most work hours are spent on the road, making the risk of vehicle crashes again far greater than normal
- On-the-job informal safety training is common
8. Structural Iron and Steel Workers
- Work often performed at great heights
- Frequent poor weather conditions
9. Underground Mining Machine Operators
- Work hours are spent using large machines, often in poor conditions, resulting in injury or death from contact with equipment
10. Agricultural workers
- Heat exposure
- Work with heavy machinery
- Exposure to chemicals in fertilizers and pesticides
- Work at times with large animals
- Frequent absence of formal safety training
Preventing serious injuries and fatalities is now more than ever the subject of books, articles, conferences, workshops, webinars, podcasts and more. Analyzing the top 10 most dangerous jobs can teach us lessons.
Dave Johnson was chief editor of ISHN from 1980 until early 2020. Portions of this article originally appeared on ISHN.com
