When it comes to workplace safety, not all industries are created equal. In fact, some industries are significantly more dangerous than others. While workplaces have generally become safer since the creation of safety regulations and enforcement agencies, some work environments are inherently risky regardless of protective measures.
The consequences of occupational injuries extend beyond the person who gets injured. The nonprofit National Safety Council determined that the 2020 cost of work injuries was $163.9 billion, a figure that includes workers' compensation, medical expenses, and productivity loss from missed days of work.
Westfield used Bureau of Labor Statistics data to rank the 25 jobs with the highest rates of nonfatal occupational injuries that involved days away from work, which can indicate a more serious illness or injury. All data is from 2020, the most recent available, and includes all workers nationally, regardless of sector or industry.
In 2020, there were 1.4 million nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses that caused a worker to miss at least one day of work, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is a 28.5% increase from the previous year. Importantly, this data includes cases where a worker was infected with COVID-19 while performing work-related duties.
There were 428,700 employer-reported respiratory illness cases in 2020—an increase from 10,800 in 2019. The increase is thus attributable to the coronavirus pandemic and mandated quarantine protocols for potential exposure.
Overall in 2020, "exposure to harmful substances or environments" was the leading cause of work-related injuries and illnesses leading to days off work. The year before, that had been the sixth-ranked cause.
Despite the surge in cases, 2020 workers' compensation premiums for private carriers and state funds dropped by 9.8% (from 2019 levels) to $42.5 billion, according to the Insurance Information Institute. That's because there were so many people laid off that even with the increased risk from COVID-19, the overall risk of workplace injury dropped.
Unsurprisingly, the health care industry experienced a 249% increase in workplace injuries and illnesses in 2020. Though it was an exceptionally hazardous year for health care workers, the industry is often among the most dangerous because of the nature of the work itself.
Read on to discover which other jobs pose the most risks to the health and safety of their workers.
