All jobs have different advantages and disadvantages, but some are just plain more dangerous than others. The people who do these jobs have an increased risk of injury or death on the job.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, these were the most dangerous jobs in Ohio in 2021 (the most recent year data is available). These five occupation categories include around 64% of all deaths on the job in Ohio.
| Occupation Category | Percentage of Deaths |
|---|---|
| Manufacturing | 17.5% |
| Transportation and Warehousing | 16.4% |
| Construction | 14% |
| Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing, and Hunting | 9.4% |
| Health Care and Social Assistance | 6.4% |
Let’s look at each of these job categories and see why they’re so dangerous.
Manufacturing
The job most likely to cause death in Ohio is manufacturing. People who work in manufacturing often deal with powerful machinery that can change your life in an instant. Safety standards in factories and manufacturing jobs need to be well established and meticulously followed. Something as seemingly minor as delaying an equipment inspection can have deadly results.
Some of the most common manufacturing injuries include:
- Contact with an object: This is a broad category that includes any injury from objects falling on people, people running into things, and most machinery injuries.
- Overexertion: Overexertion occurs when the capabilities of the body are overextended. This can include single instances or repetitive injuries over time.
- Slips and falls: Although some slips are purely the result of bad luck, many are caused by unsafe work environments.
Examples of Manufacturing Jobs:
- Machinery manufacturing
- Petroleum and coal product manufacturing
- Chemical manufacturing
- Textile mills
- Food manufacturing
Transportation and Warehousing
Transportation and warehousing involve moving and storing materials. These materials are often heavy or dangerous. This is a broad category, and transportation and warehousing each has its own risks.
The vast majority of transportation accidents come from a single cause:
- Accidents: This is the major risk of transportation jobs, and it’s unfortunately something that cannot be entirely eliminated. A driver can do everything right and still be the victim of an accident.
Common warehousing injuries include:
- Slips and falls: Warehouses often contain materials and equipment that make it more likely for workers to slip, trip, or fall.
- Overexertion: Many warehouse jobs involve moving heavy materials, and this can quickly cause overexertion incidents.
- Machinery accidents: In particular, forklifts are a major cause of on-the-job accidents in warehouses each year.
Examples of Transportation and Warehousing Jobs:
- Air, rail, truck, boat, and airplane transportation
- Postal workers
- Warehousing and storage
Construction
Similar to warehousing jobs, construction workers often work near heavy materials and heavy equipment. Things can go from normal to dangerous very quickly. Construction workers need to be provided with essential safety equipment to do their jobs as safely as possible.
Construction injuries can include:
- Slips and falls: Someone can miss their footing while on the ground, but a fall at a construction site can have far more dire results. When you’re high above the ground, even a minor stumble could lead to serious injuries or death.
- Contact with an object: Think of all the “objects” that can be encountered on a construction site: Machinery, tools, construction materials, and the actual construction itself. Any of these could cause a major injury or even death.
- Crushing accidents: This is a subsection of contact with an object. Crushing accidents occur when someone is trapped between a piece of machinery and another piece of machinery, a wall, or some other difficult-to-move object.
- Electrocution: Most construction projects involve some degree of electrical wiring. Any defects in materials or mistakes in wiring can lead to death not only for the electrician, but for anyone on site.
Examples of Construction Jobs:
- Construction of buildings
- Heavy construction
- Specialty construction
Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing, and Hunting
There are two main areas of danger in this category: Farming (particularly large-scale farming with industrial equipment) and logging. As with other categories, it’s essential that all safety precautions be in place. A seemingly minor oversight can have major consequences.
Agriculture and forestry can cause the following sorts of accidents:
- Contact with an object: Falling trees can cause catastrophic injuries or death. In agriculture, the use of heavy equipment can cause injury.
- Slips and falls: There are many reasons someone could slip, trip, or fall in this context. Of particular note is the fact that many forestry jobs are performed high in trees, where a fall could potentially be more dangerous.
- Animal-related incidents: Both farming and forestry can put workers in contact with animals, insects, and fish. These can cause injury through contact (such as when a large farm animal impacts a person) or through illness (such as mosquito-borne diseases).
Examples of Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing, and Hunting Jobs:
- Farming
- Forestry and logging
Health Care and Social Assistance
We rely on health care workers to help us stay healthy, but all too often, they are asked to put their own health at risk to do so. Although many of the previous categories have had similar common injuries, health care has risks all its own:
- Infections: There are many ways that infections can be spread, but two of the major ways health care workers are infected are through airborne illnesses and from accidental needle sticks.
- Overexertion: This type of injury is often found among nurses, home health aides, and other careers that involve physically moving another person. Sometimes, these injuries occur because not enough staff is scheduled to do the job in a safe manner.
- Chemical and drug exposure: Health care workers are sometimes exposed to dangerous chemicals or drugs, which can cause injury or even death.
Examples of Health Care and Social Assistance Jobs:
- Ambulatory services
- Hospitals
- Nursing and residential care facilities
What To Do if You’ve Been Injured on the Job
Workplace injuries are often preventable, but sometimes employers don’t do what is required to keep their employees safe. When this happens, the employees shouldn’t have to bear the brunt of the cost of recovery.
If you’ve been injured on the job, you may be entitled to compensation. Your first step is to speak with an industrial workplace accident attorney who handles workplace injury cases. Plevin & Gallucci has been representing injured workers and their families since 1971 and has successfully handled wrongful death and injury claims for workers in all of these employment categories.
Contact Plevin & Gallucci’s personal injury lawyers today for a free initial consultation.
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