Top 5 most dangerous jobs in the the world

When you think of dangerous jobs, it’s natural to think big: stuntman, lion tamer, bomb disposal experts. But did you know the top ten even includes salespeople?

There's no shortage of dangerous jobs in the UK.

According to the Health & Safety Executive, the most dangerous job in Britain has killed more workers since 2001 than the war in Afghanistan has killed UK soldiers.

And the top ten even includes used car salespeople.

The top 5 deadliest professions

1. Builders

Builders have the unfortunate distinction of suffering the highest body count – a sobering 39 construction workers died in the year 2012-13 alone, the majority after falling from a height.

2. Farmers

Farmers are lumped in with forestry and fishing professions in the statistics, but still account for almost half the 29 fatalities in that entire sector. Only five were killed by animals; the rest suffered industrial accidents.

3. Refuse collectors

Their title may have changed from 'bin man' to refuse collector, waste management operative or disposal technician, but the job itself hasn’t changed – it’s dirty and dangerous. The role killed ten people in 2012-13.

4. Garage workers

Mechanics and car salespeople come together in one group, Garage workers, and these occupations killed eight people during the period concerned.

5. Estate agents

Four estate agents died during the course of their duties in 2012-13. A further 70 were seriously injured.

Bear in mind that the HSE’s figures don’t include road accidents, so deaths of people traveling to and from work don’t count.

But the deadliest is mining

Despite all this carnage, the deadliest profession of all – when measured by your chances of dying while doing it – is something else entirely. It’s mining.

At a rate of 9.6 workers killed per 100,000, being a miner is the deadliest profession in the UK, but its tiny workforce – there are only three pits left – means the result was two deaths in 2012-13.

The good news is a general trend towards fewer fatal injuries, though it’s more pronounced amongst employed workers than the self-employed. This indicates that the much-maligned idea of ‘health and safety’ is actually producing meaningful results.

 

Also encouraging is the UK’s place in the grand scheme of workplace dangerousness. In the HSE’s list of 26 countries, the UK is only beaten by the Slovakia for safety. Our average ‘standardised incident rate’ is less than one person in 100,000 dying at work.

Despite the UK’s enviable safety record, we've already seen that things can still go very wrong at work.

Make a claim

If you’ve been injured at work through no fault of your own, you must talk to a qualified lawyer as soon as you can. You may well be entitled to compensation for your injuries and losses.

Finding out if you could make a claim is simple – just take the 30 second test below or visit the Accident Advice Helpline site and find out how much you could be entitled to.