A bad day at work could mean different things to different people. To some, it may be missing a deadline or having the boss yell at them. However, these perceived bad days are nothing compared to suffering an injury at work or even worse.
While it is possible to suffer a work-related injury in every kind of work environment, some industries have a higher prevalence of accidents than others.
Work-Related Fatalities in 2020
According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), there were 4,764 workplace-related fatalities in 2020. Even though these figures represented a 10.7 percent drop in work-related fatalities from the numbers recorded in 2019, they were the lowest since 2013.
The drop-in work-related accident in 2020 could have resulted from an economic slowdown occasioned by the Covid-19 pandemic that saw many businesses shut down to minimize the spread of the disease. Even as low as the figures were, they represented one death every 111 minutes.
Some of the leading causes of death in the year were falls, slips and trips, injuries by other persons, contact with equipment or other objects in the workplace, exposure to harmful substances, and fire and explosions.
The Riskiest Occupations in America
The transport sector held the first position in terms of numbers, with 1,178 fatalities representing 33.7 percent of all work-related fatalities in the year.
While the transport sector led in the number of deaths, it is not first in the list of most dangerous occupations based on per capita deaths. According to the reports by BLS, the most hazardous field is the fishing industry, with a death rate of 132.1 per 100,000 workers. This rate is over 30 times higher than the average fatality rate for all occupations standing at 2.4 deaths per 100,000 workers.
The fishing industry is followed closely by the logging industry, which has a fatality rate of 91.7 deaths per 100,000 workers. Third in the most dangerous occupations list is the building and construction sector, specifically the roofers, with a death rate of 49 workers per 100,000. Helpers in the construction sector had 43.3 deaths per 10,000, earning the fourth position on the list.
According to the BLS report, other hazardous occupations include the aviation industry, garbage collection industry, structural steel, ironworkers, drivers, underground miners, and workers in the agricultural sector which had a death rate of between 34.3 to 29.9 per 100,000 workers.
When You May Need a Lawyer
If you work in any of these sectors, you must understand that you are protected by the workers’ compensation law in your state. In other words, you are entitled to workers’ compensation benefits if you get injured in the scope of your job, regardless of fault.
“Fighting for your rights begins with knowing you have rights,” says attorney Scott Silberman of Silberman & Lam law firm. The personal injury claims process is simple on paper but not in reality. When filing a claim for catastrophic injuries, the worst you can do is approach the process without a lawyer. Catastrophic injuries usually involve huge payouts that your employer and their insurer may not be willing to pay unless you put up a fight.
