Special Report
25 Most Dangerous Jobs in America
January 2, 2018 5:59 pm
Last Updated: January 12, 2020 4:55 am
It was not until 1970 that Congress, under President Richard Nixon, passed the Occupational Safety and Health Act. There were 14,000 workplace fatalities that year. As part of the act, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA, was established to set and enforce safety standards in the workplace. Since then, standards have improved and workplace fatalities have declined to less than 5,200 in 2016. Still, some jobs remain far more dangerous than others.
Today, the vast majority of working Americans are relatively safe in their work environment. Across all industries in both the public and private sectors, there were 3.6 deaths for every 100,000 full-time workers. For certain professionals, such as school teachers and administrators or writers and editors, mistakes almost never have physical ramifications, and workplace fatality rates hover just above zero.
In other industries, however, no matter how strict the safety standards put in place, there are always accidents and fatal errors. The majority of jobs on this list require frequent use of heavy equipment, close proximity to hazardous substances, or working in potentially dangerous environments.
24/7 Wall St. reviewed workplace fatality rates by occupation to identify the 25 most dangerous jobs. Those working in the jobs on this list are prone to deadly slips and falls, inadvertent contact with dangerous substances or equipment, and in some cases, violent altercations. Fatality rates for each of these jobs are more than double the rate across all occupations — and in some cases, over 20 times higher.
Click here to see the most dangerous jobs.
Click here to see our detailed findings and methodology.
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