10 Most Dangerous Jobs in America

Rescue workers lift the body of worker caught in a Jacksonville construction accident in 1961.

There was a consistent decline in unemployment rate last year, opening at 7.9% in January down to an all-time year low of 7% in November (December data is not yet out), according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. But the figure is still higher than when we started 2008 at 5% a few months before the subprime crisis hit. Clearly, many more Americans would like to land a job, but would they love these jobs to, literally, die for? Check out America's most dangerous jobs based on the 2012 National Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries.

The 10 Most Dangerous Jobs

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Generally, workers are much safer now than they were 10 years ago. There were 29% less workers that died on the job in 2012 (4,383) compared to 1992 (6,217). Despite the continuous improvement in U.S. occupational health standards still leaves some jobs more hazardous than the rest because of the nature of their work.

Causes of fatal work injuries

These are the major cause of death across all occupations.

Transportation incidents [41%]
Homicides, violence, and other injuries by persons or animals [17%]
Struck by object or equipment and similar incidents [16%]
Falls, slips, trips [15%]
Exposure to harmful substances or environments [7%]
Fires and explosions [3%]
Others [1%]

In the following list we'll show you which jobs have the highest incidence of fatalities per 100,000 workers, provide reasons why these jobs are dangerous, and show how much each job typically earns. These jobs pay well, so this might be one reason why there's never a shortage of people willing to take them on. Ordered by fatality rate, from lowest to highest, these are:

The 10 Most Dangerous Jobs