What Are the Most Dangerous Jobs?

While every Altoona, Pennsylvania, worker faces some risk at her job, there are no doubt some professions that are more dangerous than others.

However, the answer to the question which jobs are most dangerous might not be the one Pennsylvania residents would expect.

For instance, the results of one report, which ranked jobs by how likely it was for a worker to die, including what some describe as surprises. For instance, social workers and architects and engineers made the list of deadliest jobs. Other professions on the list included custodians, auto mechanics, and several different lines of work within the transportation industry, including cab drivers and truck drivers.

There were also some professions that people might have expected to appear on the list since they are commonly thought of as dangerous. For example, police officers and firefighters made the list, as did miners and those who work in industry and in construction.

Interestingly, though, the professions that had the most deaths per 100,000 were, in order, loggers by far, then fishermen, then pilots and other aviators, then roofers, and rounded out by garbage collectors. While when one thinks about it these jobs do have considerable risks associated with them, one might not think of a trash collector or civilian pilot as putting their lives at risk every morning they head off to work.

Particularly for the families of those who work in one of these potentially deadly professions, it is important to remember that victims of workplace accidents, or their surviving relatives, have rights. In addition to collecting workers’ compensation, for instance, they may have the option of filing a wrongful death case against any other party, aside from the victim’s employer, and asking for compensation for their loss.