Top 12 Most Dangerous Jobs

Had another "near miss" during this morning's commute? Suffered a paper cut while sorting through the mail? Subjected to the nonstop blather of that chatty office mate? While those events could certainly cause stress, at least you're probably not facing the possibility of incurring a fatal injury during your daily work routine.

If you're seeking a new job or just want to feel grateful for the one you have, consider results of the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI), published by U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

According to the most recent CFOI, a total of 5,657 work-related fatalities were recorded in the United States in 2007. The number represented a three percent decrease from the 5,840 fatal work injuries reported for 2006. Further, the overall rate of fatal injury for U.S. workers measured 3.8 fatalities per 100,000 workers -- the lowest annual fatality rate ever reported since the CFOI was first conducted in 1992.

The four most frequent fatal work-related events from 1992-2007 include highway incidents, homicides, falls, and being struck by objects. In 2007, more work-related fatalities resulted from transportation incidents than from any other event; highway incidents alone accounted for one out of every four fatal work injuries. Exposure to harmful substances or environments, and fires and explosions, also ranked highly as causes of fatal work injuries.

Thus, it may come as no surprise that jobs with the highest fatality rates include the following 12 groups, along with their greatest occupational hazards:

1. Fishers and related fishing workers. Drowning.
2. Logging workers. Being struck by falling object.
3. Aircraft pilots and flight engineers. Crashes.
4. Structural iron and steel workers. Falls.
5. Taxi drivers. Homicide.
6. Construction laborers. Vehicular accidents and falls.
7. Farmers and ranchers. Vehicular accidents.
8. Roofers. Falls.
9. Electrical power-line installers and repairers. Electrocution.
10. Driver/sales workers and truck drivers. Highway collisions.
11. Refuse and recyclable material collectors. Vehicular accidents, falls, being struck by objects, and exposure to harmful substances or environments.
12. Police and sheriff's patrol officers. Homicide and highway collisions.

The BLS occupational safety and health statistics program compiles a count of all fatal work injuries occurring in the U.S. in each calendar year. The program uses diverse state, federal and independent data sources to identify, verify and describe fatal work injuries -- including more than 21,000 unique source documents as part of its 2007 data collection process.

SOURCES

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS): http://www.bls.gov
Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI): http://www.bls.gov/news.release/cfoi.htm