The 10 most dangerous jobs in America

Want to be sure you’re not in harms way at the office? Don’t plan on a career as a fisherman, logger or airplane pilot.

According to a September report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), those jobs were the three deadliest in the United States in 2011. The organization recently examined the occupations with the highest rate of work-related deaths and found that of all U.S. workers, fishermen are the most likely to die on the job.

Here is the full list of work-related deaths in 2011 (per 100,000 workers):

1. Fisherman (121.2)
2. Loggers (102.4)
3. Pilots (57.0)
4. Farmers and Ranchers (25.3)
5. Police Officers (18.6)
6. Construction Workers (15.7)
7. National Average (3.5)
8. Firefighters (2.5)
9. Cashiers (1.6)
10. Office Admin (0.6)
11. Business and Finance Staff (0.5)

While the number of fishermen who die on the job has been cut by almost half since 2009, the occupation still earns the top spot on the list. Most of the workers die from drowning after a boat capsizes, according to the BLS. Loggers who die on the job are most likely hit by a falling tree or killed by an out of control machine and the pilots who die on the job are usually flying propeller-driven planes, not commercial jets.

Somewhat surprisingly, firefighters are actually less likely to die on the job than the average U.S. worker.

See the department’s full report here (PDF).

[via Planet Money]

Image: BLS, Tony Hisgett/Flickr

This post was originally published on Smartplanet.com