There are many ways to die while on the job. There are extremely dangerous jobs like Alaskan fishing and construction work and not-so-dangerous jobs like librarian and software engineer. But being on the job has many different aspects.

Sure, the nature of your job can be dangerous such as policeman and fireman, but in the course of doing your job there can also be very hazardous unknown dangers such as radon gas in your office or asbestos in the walls. There can be lead paint chips in the warehouse and falling filing cabinets.

Surprisingly the way people most commonly die is driving, thus real estate agents and delivery drivers have far more hazardous jobs than people generally think. Take a look at this list and see if you can identify some of the fatal hazards in your workplace.

*Information compiled from data provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This does not include military on-the-job fatalities.

Top 10 Job Fatalities

1. Highway Accidents (23%) – Car accidents and trucking accidents are some of the most common ways people die just in general. If your job is to be on the road all of the time then your chances of dying in these types accidents goes up considerably. Many don’t take into account the hazards of being on the road all of the time, but literally hundreds of thousands of people die every year and almost 100% of the time it’s operator error, either the worker or someone else…likely it was someone else.
2. Transportation Accidents (18%) – Transportation accidents can be what the person does or how they get to and from work. If you are on an airplane traveling to a meeting, you are working, so if the plane goes down, you died at work.  The same goes for all of the other business travelers. Then there’s the actual transport workers themselves, the bus drivers, train engineers, pilots, etc. Since they ride in the front of the vehicle they are generally the first ones to die.
3. Falling a Short Distance (11%) – It doesn’t take far to fall to die. It could be as high as a step ladder. It’s al based on how you land. Construction workers often die this way because they fall from one story to the next surrounded by tools, machinery, and other hazards. Office workers also die from short falls from head injuries and neck injuries when they hit a desk or other hard object, generally because they don’t have the proper equipment and are using a swivel chair with wheels to place something on a high shelf.
4. Struck by an Object (10%) – This is a hazard in almost every industry from the falling trees of forestry to the falling rocks of a mine and everything in between. They include swinging objects, falling objects, and basically any object that crushes a person. If the person is struck by an inanimate object and killed they fall into this category.
5. Homocide (10%) – Policemen often die this way, but their most common form of death is in the #1 category, highway deaths. This category is highly populated by one of the most dangerous and fatal jobs in the world, convenience store clerk, particularly during the night shift. And then there is the random disgruntled employee taking out their frustrations by blasting their way through the office with a gun. Creepy, but true.
6. Struck with an Object (8%) – This category may sound the same as “struck by,” but this is related to operator error, such as being run over by a truck or brained by a nail gun. Basically, if a coworker kills you, it’s most likely you fit into this category.
7. Exposure to Harmful Substances (8%) – As mentioned above, radon gas and asbestos are silent killers, but this is also related to more immediate effects such as burning acid, toxic waste, toxic metals, and fumes of various gases. It can also relate to medical waste, biological waste, animal waste, and the illnesses and diseases that accompany them. And of course there are other airborn agents such as in mining environments, painting, and second hand smoke in bars that still allow smoking.
8. Assaults (6%) – Most people don’t think of getting beaten to death as a work hazard, unless you are in law enforcement, but there is another category that are all too often the unfortunate victims of this category: taxi cab drivers. They also occupy the #1 category on this list, but it seems that when they drive to distant dark neighborhoods they are equally as vulnerable as in the middle of the city.
9. Fires and Explosions (3%) – Firefighters have some of the most hazardous jobs, but they are well trained and well equipped. Sometimes though, all of the training and equipment in the world can’t predict the random nature of a fire. Other professions such as mining and construction can work with explosives, which are always hazardous. These types of deaths are some of the worst, but some may argue that living through them could be worse.
10. Long Falls (3%) – This category covers a fall of above 10 feet, thus we come back to construction, but particularly roofers. Roofers occupy the top spot of all falling deaths with 18%. With so many different types of roofs, substances, pitches, and separate ways they must secure themselves it no wonder that they have some of the most fatalities in the construction profession. Beyond construction workers, this category also is occupied by window washers and fire fighters.

Workers Compensation Lawyers

As you can see, there are tons of hazards on the job. Fortunately, there is the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to set standards for safety for every industry in the country. Also there are organizations in some states that offer a pool of cheap insurance to employers called Labor and Industries (L&I), for-profit labor insurance, and workers compensation that sometimes have provisions in place to take care of families when their loved one dies in an industrial accident.

If your loved one has died in an accident on the job it is important to have a representative on your side to assure that your best interests are addressed. Some families may be left with young children and low single income and few options. Many times these deaths are caused by environments and policies within the workplace that the employer may have been able to anticipate or deliberately avoided for budgetary reasons. This would make worker’s demise potentially a wrongful death. That is why you need an experienced wrongful death lawyer. Call Phillips Webster for your free consultation on your legal options.

Lean More About:

• Washington Workers Compensation
• Wrongful Death Lawsuits
• Filing a Personal Injury Lawsuit