William Simpson
Farming, forestry, fishing and hunting top the list of America’s deadliest jobs, a recent analysis shows.
These occupations have the highest rate of employee deaths, with 18.6 deaths per 100,000 workers, the AFL-CIO found in to study, which is based on labor data from 2022 (the latest year available). Other highly dangerous jobs consisted of working in mines, quarries and oil extraction (16.6 deaths per 100,000 workers); transport and storage (14.1); and construction (9.6).
Overall, nearly 5,500 workers died on the job in the U.S. in 2022, up from 5,190 the previous year, according to the union’s analysis.
Deaths are rising, in part because some employees are afraid of possible retaliation if they highlight dangerous conditions at their work, resulting in many workers operating in an unsafe environment, AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler said in a statement. Employee drug overdoses while on the job, deadly violence against co-workers, and suicides have also contributed to the jump in workplace deaths, according to to the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
For many workers, farming has always been a dangerous job. Farmers and farm workers are exposed to lung-damaging dust, while animal droppings also contain mold or bacteria, according to federal health officials. data. Falls from ladders, agricultural machinery and grain silos represent another risk.
Meanwhile, miners often work in confined underground spaces where toxic or explosive gases such as hydrogen sulfide or methane can be released, and they also face the risk of collapses.
Not surprisingly, states with large numbers of agricultural and extractive industry workers have the highest death rate, with Wyoming topping the list with 12.7 deaths per 100,000 workers, according to the AFL-CIO . Rounding out the list were North Dakota (9.8 deaths); Mississippi (6.9); New Mexico and West Virginia (6.8); and Louisiana (6.4).
The AFL-CIO analysis also found that death rates among black workers were higher than among other employees. The death rate for Latino workers in 2022 was 4.6 per 100,000 workers, compared to 3.7 for all workers. The death rate for black employees was 4.2 per 100,000 workers, the highest level in nearly 15 years, the union said.
“The recent tragedy of the bridge collapse in Baltimore was responsible for the deaths of six Latino immigrant workers who were doing work on the bridge at the time of the collapse,” AFL-CIO researchers wrote. “This incident highlights the dangerous work that immigrants do every day to support people in the United States and the toll it takes on their families and communities when workplaces are unsafe.”
