Obsession with Dangerous Jobs - Essay Example

            As a society, we seem to have an obsession with learning about dangerous jobs. Thus, there are a variety of resources explaining and ranking threatening jobs. According to a report by Business Insider, construction trades ranked 14th on the list of most dangerous jobs, while construction labor ranked 12th. (Business Insider) The number of fatalities per 100,000 workers determined this.  More dangerous occupations included: Police Officers, Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors, Taxi and Truck Drivers, Farmers, Structural Iron and Steel Workers, Aircraft Pilots, Logging Workers, and Fishers (Business Insider). Less dangerous jobs included Grounds Maintenance Workers (Business Insider) Security Guards (The Daily Beast) and, unsurprisingly, Teachers and Librarians (Media Bistro).

            Construction is understandably dangerous- the risks are apparent. Accidents happen, no matter the occupation, and when accidents take place amongst unfinished buildings and massive machines, there is a great threat of injury or death. But still, Construction is out-dangered by, for instance, farming. In this case, farming is more dangerous because there is still heavy machinery around, but fewer safety checks and available aid. If someone is injured on a construction site, there will usually be someone around who knows what to do, and who knows to call for help. But farming takes place primarily in rural areas, where there may not be a hospital or neighbor within miles. Thus, if a piece of equipment injures someone, their chances of reaching help in time are much less, increasing the fatality rate. Another job that is more dangerous than construction is being a police officer. While one might speculate that the most imposing threat, which takes the most fatalities, would be violent criminals. But no, interestingly, the “most common cause of death” for Police Officers is “Transportation incidents.”(Business Insider) This means that, since Police Officers are on the road so much, they are under constant threat from automobile accidents. For the “safer-than-construction” occupations, Teachers and librarians were the safest. This was most likely because they spent most of their day inside, in a safe environment. Transportation is not part of those jobs, so driving would not be included as a risk. In my research, I found something interesting. Rather than real threatening sounding hazards, the one factor that caused the most causality at work was transportation incidents like car accidents. I then saw the connection- the most dangerous jobs were those in which the workers were moving around the most on a vehicle. Fishermen were constantly on the open sea, pilots often in the air flying, and truck and refuse collection drivers were always on the road. And police officers frequently drove between calls. 6 of the top 10 most dangerous jobs had a “most common cause of death” of “Transportation incidents.” (Business Insider)

            To fight the threat, our most effective course of action should be to reduce the rate of transportation-related fatalities. In A Job to Die For it is proposed that distractions are what make transportation-related fatalities so prevalent. Thus, to reduce the danger of occupations, we should reduce distractions. One option would be to find people who text-messaged while they drove. Another would be to put restrictions on being on the phone while driving. Even surfing the web while driving is possible today, with smartphones and iPads, and netbooks, so that should be restricted too. Many police officers also have laptops in their cruisers, which they can freely use while driving. The risks of this should be examined and perhaps the use of computers while driving should be restricted to only what is necessary. Such restrictions on distractions could help greatly reduce the overall number of fatalities in the workplace as a whole.

            In all, we can make all of our workplaces safer by reducing transportation risks. This means ending distractions and enforcing laws that deter distracted driving. With a widespread safety movement, the unsung danger of transportation could be greatly reduced.