Construction is often cited as the most dangerous occupation based on the total number of fatal accidents. That’s true, but it’s also misleading. With hundreds of thousands of construction workers in the United States, there’s just a massive pool of people to get injured. The statistics are bound to be higher.
To really see which occupations are the most dangerous, you need to look at the deaths per capita. This means how many people passed away for every 100,000 workers in that field. By doing this, you can compare all different occupations on a level playing field.
For instance, when you apply that standard to the construction industry, you find that those in construction trades had a death rate of 21 workers for every 100,000. A related industry, roofing, showed a rate of 51.5 deaths per 100,000 workers.
Those numbers sound dire enough, but they’re not even the top. At No. 1 overall you find loggers, with 97.6 deaths per 100,000 workers. Most people are largely unaware of this danger since the logging industry is so small compared to something like construction, but you can see that the risk these workers face is far higher.
This isn’t to take away from the risks to construction workers, though. They still make it into the top 10 and they have a massive industry, so there is a reason for the soaring fatal accident totals. This job comes with a lot of risks. Workers need to know what rights they have after serious injuries, and their families need to know their rights when those workers pass away on the job.