The Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities (IIF) program generates a wealth of data on industrial injuries and illnesses. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2021), there were 4,764 fatal work injuries in the United States in 2020, a 10.7 percent decline from 5,333 in 2019. Transportation and material moving workers, as well as construction and extraction workers, accounted for over half of all fatal occupational injuries (47.4 percent), with 1,282 and 976 workplace deaths, respectively. According to fatal work injury rates per 100000 full-time employees by occupations in the years 2019 and 2020, fishing and hunting workers were the occupations with the highest risk of physical danger (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2021).
As it was mentioned before, transportation incidents have the highest rate of risk. Other physical risks involve falls, slips, trips, violence, and other injuries by a person or animal and contact with objects and equipment (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2021). Contact with items and equipment was the second most prevalent cause of occupational deaths, increasing 13% to 786 instances last year. The rise included a 39% increase in employees caught in running equipment or machinery, as well as a 17% increase in workers injured by falling objects or equipment (Braverman, 2019). Moreover, workers who make a career in and around nature are frequently at danger of injury and death due to their environment and the equipment they employ. Loggers use saws, axes, and other heavy machinery to chop down trees. They are surrounded by falling branches and limbs and must frequently negotiate rough terrain to do their tasks. Farmers are also surrounded by whirling blades and huge machinery that require constant attention to function properly. Farming employees are more prone to make mistakes and get injured as a result of the long hours required.
References
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2021). National census of fatal occupational injuries in 2020. Web.
Braverman, B. (2019). The 10 most dangerous jobs in America. CNBC. Web.