It is common for people to confuse the idea of the most dangerous jobs or deadliest professions with the overall deadliest job responsibilities. People might claim, for example, that felling trees for the timber industry or offshore fishing are among the deadliest job responsibilities because those professions have a high rate of worker fatalities when compared with other industries.
When researchers with access to federal workplace safety data look at the total number of workplace fatalities across all injuries, it comes apparent that a much more common task is actually responsible for more workplace deaths than any of those niche responsibilities.
Do you perform the deadliest job task in the country as part of your daily workload?
Driving kills more workers than anything else
According to data provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, motor vehicle collisions while working are the number one cause of worker fatalities in the country. Obviously, those who spend all day at the wheel because of their job, like traveling sales professionals and commercial truckers, have an increased risk of experiencing a motor vehicle collision because they spend so much time on the road.
However, you don’t need to deliver pizzas for a living for your time at the wheel while working to endanger your life. Even if you only occasionally run out to pick up supplies for the office or meet a client at a property, each of those trips might end up putting your life in danger. While you may be responsible at the wheel, there is no guarantee that other people will be equally responsible.
What happens after a work-related car crash?
Even if the crash isn’t fatal, getting into a wreck while working can be a nightmare scenario. You may miss important meetings or multiple days of work if you get injured, and there’s also the damage to your vehicle to consider unless you were in a fleet vehicle provided by your employer.
Many workers injured in crashes while on the clock can qualify both for a workers’ compensation claim to pay their medical costs and help replace their wages, as well as a car insurance claim. A secondary insurance claim can often benefit an injured employee by closing the gaps in workers’ compensation coverage. Seeking the remainder of your lost wages and property damage losses would be one reason to pursue a car insurance claim in addition to workers’ compensation benefits.
Learning more about workplace injuries and the benefits systems in place to protect you from them can help anyone who drives while working.