Employment
The Most Dangerous Jobs In America

Looking for a new career? Well, you might want to consider how likely it is that you will be injured on the job before making that choice.

A total of 1.4 million injuries and illnesses that required recuperation away from work occurred in private industry in 2002 (the most recent data available), according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics at the U.S. Department of Labor. The two occupations with the greatest number of such injuries and illnesses were truck drivers and nursing aides (including orderlies and attendants).

Sprains and strains were the leading nature of injury or illness in every major industry division in 2002, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Of the 112,200 injured truck drivers, half of the sprains or strains, often to the trunk or lower extremities, stemmed from overexertion, contacts with objects or equipment, or falls. Likewise, the 79,000 injured nursing aides suffered sprains and strains to their trunks (typically their backs), due to overexertion related to lifting or moving patients.

Among major disabling injuries and illnesses, median days away from work were highest for carpal tunnel syndrome (30 days), fractures (29 days), and amputations (26 days).

On-the-job injuries are costing employers a pretty penny. According to Boston-based Liberty Mutual, the leading private provider of workers' compensation insurance in the United States, workplace injuries cost employers nearly $1 billion per week in payments to injured employees and their medical care providers.