No matter how you earn a living, staying safe during the normal course of duties in your workplace is no doubt one of your highest priorities. In fact, people in Nebraska and throughout the United States worry about many hazards in the workplace that didn’t exist a few decades ago. Mass shootings and other national disasters have prompted high levels of concern for employers, employees, teaching faculty, students and average citizens across the nation.
Aside from potential danger from outside sources at work, there are simply certain jobs that are inherently more dangerous than others. If you work in one of these industries, you may be at greater risk for injury than someone who works in a checkout line at a grocery store, for instance. Knowing where the greatest dangers lie and what to do if you’re involved in a workplace accident may not only help you avoid injury altogether but obtain swift and appropriate support if a mishap does occur.
Top injury-risk jobs in the nation
The United States passed a law in the 1970s to help establish safer work environments. Known as the Occupational Safety and Health Act, it set safety standards and prompted regular job site inspections to improve work conditions and help laborers avoid injury. The following list includes jobs that place you at high risk for accidents in the workplace:
- The corporate world has increased profitability by using the nation’s supply of lumber harvested from forests to create products, such as paper, furniture, homes and more. The process of logging timber to collect supplies for those products is one of the most dangerous jobs in the world. In 2016, approximately 135.9 out of every 100,000 logging workers suffered fatalities in workplace accidents.
- Close behind logging as a high-injury risk job is fishing. Many people earn their livings through commercial fishing industries. Since injuries in this industry often take place at sea, appropriate emergency medical care is not always easily accessible.
- On paper, flying is safer than traveling by motor vehicle on the ground. Piloting and flight engineering, however, still rank high among most dangerous jobs in the nation.
- You may be one of many Nebraska residents who works in construction, public service, electronics or agriculture. These industries also place you at great risk for personal injury on the job.
If your particular line of work was not included in this list, it doesn’t necessarily mean you are risk-free when it comes to potential injuries in the workplace. Even working behind a desk at an office can place you at risk, especially if you develop long-term disability from a repetitive strain injury, which is not uncommon among office workers.
Where to seek support
Most employers have an obligation to purchase insurance that provides benefits to injured workers to help pay medical bills and replace lost wages if they suffer injuries on the job. The claims process is often complicated and stressful to navigate. That’s why many injured workers rely on experienced workers’ compensation attorneys to help them get the care and financial support they need.