The UK’s Top Ten Most Dangerous Industries
When you’re looking for a job, you probably don’t consider how safe or not it is (unless you’re a stuntman!), but if you work in any of these industries, you should seriously consider making sure your life insurance is up to date!
Counting down from 10, here are the 10 most dangerous industries to work in, in the UK*
*According to stats from the Health and Safety Executive
- Vehicle repair and maintenance
20% of UK workplace deaths occur because of vehicles, and the most common cause is employees being struck by a moving object or a vehicle.
- Joinery and painting
Most deaths in these industries are from falls. Secure your ladders and make sure that wooden staircase is secure, people!
- Waste management
There’s a lot of machinery involved in this industry, which makes it a dangerous sector to work in by default.
- Civil engineering
Recorded deaths in this industry have been caused by collapsed excavations, being struck by vehicles, and coming into contact with electricity.
- Healthcare
Not surprisingly, more workers are off sick with work-related injury and stress than in any other sector.
- Manufacturing
There were a massive 111 deaths between 2011 and 2016, and countless workplace injuries caused by operating dangerous machinery and being struck by falling objects.
- Lorry driving
Heavy goods vehicles can weigh up to 44 tonnes, so it can spell very bad news if the driver loses control or is involved in an accident caused by another vehicle on the road.
- Scaffolding and roofing
As you can imagine, working at height makes these jobs inherently dangerous. Falling from height or injuries sustained from falling cause around 29% of all workplace deaths.
- Construction
There were 196 deaths in the industry between 2011 and 2016, half of which were caused by falls from height. Falling objects are also a significant cause of injury and fatality among builders.
- Farming
If you think about what most farmers have to do as part of their daily work-working at height, operating heavy machinery, and working with potentially dangerous animals, you can see why farming takes the title as the most dangerous industry to work in.