America’s Deadliest Jobs: Save The Lumberjacks

By: Laura Meyers

As much as people complain about working in cubicles everyday, it could be worse. You could be dead.

A new study released shows the 15 deadliest jobs ever; the top three deadliest being logging workers, fishermen, and aircraft pilots/engineers.

The federal Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has been collecting data on work-related deaths since 1992. Over a 22-year span, 5,650 US works die annually as a result of work-related deaths.

Taking it one step further, the BLS breaks down annual deaths by profession. The results show that certain professions are drastically more life-threatening than others.

Priceonomics reports:

Note: Interestingly, the three most deadly jobs are all instances of man versus nature: logging (trees), fishing (the sea), and aircraft pilots (air); also, while women and men shared an equal split in hours worked, 93% of all work fatalities were incurred by men

Loggers are 30 times more likely to die on the job than the average american worker.

“Despite the high-risk nature of their profession, loggers receive a median pay of only $33,630 per year, or $16.17 per hour. (In fact, with the exception of pilots, police officers, and firemen, every job on this list has a median pay of less than $45,000,) Priceonomics reports.

The study excluded military workers from the analytics. However, when compared with military-related deaths, the results are still surprising.

Note: Logging data compiled from BLS data (1992-2013); U.S. Military data compiled from the Defense Casualty Analysis System (1980-2010). It should be noted that soldier fatality rates greatly vary. During World Wars I & II, or Vietnam, these rates would be astronomically higher. Additionally, these figures account for all active duty military; if we were to break that down into specific job titles, it is likely that certain fields — say explosive ordnance disposal — would have much higher rates.

Similarly to the military, logging, as one of America’s oldest occupations as well as dangerous, will only because safer and more efficient with the innovation of science and technology. And we’ve come a long way since the handsaw.

Lumberjacks with a giant redwood tree, c.early 1900s (note the massive handsaw)

Saving the trees is fine and dandy, but saving the beards and flannels is also important.