The tragic mining accident in West Virginia has been all over the news this week, and I have read numerous articles about the history of safety violations at the Upper Branch Mine. Simply based on what I have read, it would appear that the owner and executives of Massey Energy Co. were criminally negligent and responsible for 25 recent deaths. The latest headline to catch my eye was, "West Virginia disaster: Will Congress take on coal mining companies?" I found myself thinking that someone should do something. Rules were broken! Why wasn't this stopped, I wondered? Why wasn't Massey Energy Company forced to clean up its act? Hell, yes, let's get Congress to do something! Hold hearings! Make laws! Pass acts!
And then I wondered: is mining the most dangerous occupation in America? The answer, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, is no.
According to data for 2008 (the most recent on the BLS website), there were 5,071 fatalities in the workplace. Of those, 969 were in construction. However, although construction had the highest number of fatal injuries in 2008, agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting had the highest fatality rate, at 29.4 deaths per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers. (I don't know any full-time hunters, but that's just me.) Mining came in second, with 175 fatalities, or 18.0 fatality rate. Looking at selected occupations, the top five deadliest were fishing and related fishing workers in first place with 128.9 deaths, followed by logging workers with 115.7, aircraft pilots and flight engineers with 72.4, structural iron and steel workers with 46.4, and farmers and ranchers with 39.5.
Within all occupations, can you guess what the most common cause of death was? It was transportation incidents! That's right, even if you were a secretary, you were more likely to die while running an errand in a car than shredding paper. Or even arguing with your boss! The second most common cause of death was falls. That makes sense, considering roofers and construction workers. Ironically, the most common cause of death among taxi drivers and chauffers was not transportation incidents - it was assaults and violent acts! I always marvel that the taxi drivers in Chicago manage to get me where I am going in one piece, and I guess I should have more faith.
So, while I agree that the deaths of the miners in West Virginia this week were tragic, they were not alone. Mining is not the most dangerous job in America, at least it wasn't in 2008. And though we might be tempted to call on Congress to do something, we must realize that there are deaths at work every year, and no one is immune.
Oh, that's right. That's why we have OSHA!
Bureau of Labor Statistics
The 15 Most Dangerous Jobs in America
