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Jan 28, 2024

The Deadliest Jobs in America, Based on Workplace Fatalities

What they do: They move materials such as from loading docks. Fatal injury rate

What they do: They move materials such as from loading docks.

Fatal injury rate (per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers): 5.0

What they do: Install or repair heating, central air conditioning, or refrigeration systems.

Fatal injury rate (per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers): 5.1

What they do: Lay out, install, or maintain pipes, plumbing, and sewer systems.

Fatal injury rate (per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers): 5.2

What they do: Operate industrial trucks or tractors equipped to move materials around a warehouse, storage yard, factory, construction site, or similar location.

Fatal injury rate (per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers): 5.9

What they do: Diagnose, adjust, repair, or overhaul buses and trucks, or maintain and repair any type of diesel engines.

Fatal injury rate (per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers): 6.0

What they do: Repair, maintain, or install machinery.

Fatal injury rate (per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers): 6.2

What they do: Compete in athletic events, instruct or coach groups or individuals in the fundamentals of sports, or officiate at competitive athletic or sporting events.

Fatal injury rate (per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers): 6.2

What they do: Diagnose, adjust, repair, or overhaul automotive vehicles.

Fatal injury rate (per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers): 7.2

What they do: Construct, erect, install, or repair structures and fixtures made of wood.

Fatal injury rate (per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers): 7.8

What they do: Install, maintain, and repair electrical wiring, equipment, and fixtures.

Fatal injury rate (per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers): 8.0

What they do: Guard, patrol, or monitor premises to prevent theft, violence, or infractions of rules.

Fatal injury rate (per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers): 8.3

What they do: Use hand-welding, flame-cutting, hand soldering, or brazing equipment to weld or join metal components or to fill holes, indentations, or seams of fabricated metal products.

Fatal injury rate (per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers): 9.2

What they do: Install and repair telecommunications cable.

Fatal injury rate (per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers): 11.6

What they do: Paint walls, equipment, buildings, bridges, and other structural surfaces.

Fatal injury rate (per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers): 11.6

What they do: Directly supervise and coordinate activities of construction or extraction workers.

Fatal injury rate (per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers): 11.7

What they do: Perform work involving the skills of two or more maintenance or craft occupations to keep machines, mechanical equipment, or the structure of an establishment in repair.

Fatal injury rate (per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers): 12.3

What they do: Maintain order and protect life and property by enforcing local, tribal, State, or Federal laws and ordinances.

Fatal injury rate (per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers): 13.4

What they do: Directly supervise and coordinate the activities of mechanics, installers, and repairers.

Fatal injury rate (per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers): 14.4

What they do: Directly supervise and coordinate activities of workers engaged in landscaping or grounds keeping activities.

Fatal injury rate (per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers): 15.3

What they do: Work on farms or other agricultural businesses.

Fatal injury rate (per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers): 16.6

What they do: Operate one or several types of power construction equipment.

Fatal injury rate (per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers): 17.6

What they do: Perform tasks involving physical labor at construction sites.

Fatal injury rate (per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers): 18.1

What they do: Install or repair cables or wires used in electrical power or distribution systems.

Fatal injury rate (per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers): 18.6

What they do: Maintain grounds of property using hand or power tools or equipment.

Fatal injury rate (per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers): 19.4

What they do: Plan, direct, or coordinate the management or operation of farms or other agricultural establishments.

Fatal injury rate (per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers): 20.9

What they do: These workers operate underground machines and equipment like conveyors.

Fatal injury rate (per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers): 21.6

What they do: Drive truck or other vehicle over established routes or within an established territory and sell or deliver goods.

Fatal injury rate (per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers): 25.8

What they do: Raise, place, and unite iron or steel girders, columns, and other structural members to form completed structures or structural frameworks.

Fatal injury rate (per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers): 32.5

What they do: Collect and dump refuse or recyclable materials from containers into truck.

Fatal injury rate (per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers): 33.1

What they do: Pilot and navigate the flight of fixed-wing, multi-engine aircraft, usually on scheduled air carrier routes, for the transport of passengers and cargo.

Fatal injury rate (per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers): 34.3

What they do: Assist construction laborers on construction sites.

Fatal injury rate (per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers): 43.3

What they do: Cover roofs of structures with shingles, slate, asphalt, aluminum, wood, or related materials.

Fatal injury rate (per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers): 47.0

What they do: Use mechanized equipment or hand tools to cut down trees.

Fatal injury rate (per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers): 91.7

What they do: Use nets, fishing rods, traps, or other equipment to catch and gather fish or other aquatic animals.

Fatal injury rate (per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers): 132.1

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) documented how many people died on the job in 2020 for the equivalent of every 100,000 full-time people who held that job.

"Workers in transportation and material moving occupations and construction and extraction occupations accounted for nearly half of all fatal occupational injuries," BLS wrote in a news release.

Overall, the greatest number of fatal work injuries resulted from transportation incidents, with 1,778 cases in 2020. Falls, slips, trips was another leading cause with 805 cases last year.

There were fewer fatal work injuries in 2020 than there were in 2019.

"The 4,764 fatal occupational injuries in 2020 represents the lowest annual number since 2013," BLS wrote in a news release.

To find the most dangerous jobs in America, we identified the jobs from the Bureau's list with the highest fatal injury rates. Each of these jobs has a fatal injury rate above the national average for all workers of 3.4 per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers. Fishing and hunting workers had the highest fatal injury rate at 132.1, which is lower than its 2019 rate of 145.0.

The above are the 34 deadliest jobs in America, ranked by their 2020 fatality rates per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers. We also included a description of what workers in these jobs do from the Department of Labor's O*NET careers database or the Bureau's Occupational Outlook Handbook.

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