Every job can be dangerous in one way or another, but some industries are statistically far more dangerous than others. If you work in Georgia, you should know which industries are most likely to put you in a potentially fatal accident.
1. Delivery & Transportation
In the modern era, everyone wants their purchases immediately. As a result of that time pressure, the delivery and transportation industries have ballooned across the nation — and so have the work-related accident risks for ride-share drivers, delivery-truck drivers, and warehouse workers.
Common fatal accidents and injuries in this industry include:
- Motor vehicle crashes
- Crush injuries
- Forklift accidents
2. Nursing & Healthcare
It might seem ironic, but working in medical fields like nursing and healthcare can be bad for your health. Medical professionals hold some of the most stressful and physically demanding jobs in any industry. If you work in healthcare, it’s often a matter of when, not if, you’ll be harmed by a work-related injury or illness. Two of the biggest threats in Georgia:
- Violent patients: Patrons can be difficult in any industry, but patients receiving healthcare are among the most likely to become angry and violent — especially a patient hospitalized for a cognitive impairment like psychosis.
- Heavy patients: Healthcare workers — and home health aides in particular — often have the difficult job of lifting patients. Add in that many patients are deconditioned, obese, or unable to assist much in their own care, and you have a recipe for a fall or back injury. Many healthcare workers don’t realize their legal rights: an injury suffered while lifting or pushing a patient should be covered by workers’ compensation — even if it develops slowly over time (a repetitive-use or cumulative injury).
3. Factory & Manufacturing
Big Georgia cities like Atlanta have industrial districts full of work in warehouses and manufacturing facilities. Those openings are often available because few people want a career field known for constant danger. Heavy machinery is always dangerous, even when ample precautions are taken — and the wrong move around it can be deadly in an instant.
Life-changing injuries common to factory and manufacturing accidents include:
- Crush injuries
- Caught-in / between accidents
- Degloving injuries
- Severe burns
- Exposure to toxic substances
- Amputations
4. Logging and Tree Cutting
Georgia is one of the nation’s leaders in the logging industry — more than 1,500 companies in the state are involved in timber harvesting and processing. As the industry thrives, so does the risk of a workplace accident.
Loggers work long hours on their feet, leading to exhaustion and related accidents. They often climb up and down trees to trim branches or prepare a tree for felling, and using dangerous equipment like chainsaws raises the risk of a serious accident even further.
5. Construction
No list of dangerous Georgia workplaces — or dangerous workplaces anywhere — would be complete without construction. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has ranked construction among its most dangerous industries for decades. Each year in Georgia, dozens of construction workers lose their lives in workplace accidents, many involving vehicles like cranes, bulldozers, and dump trucks.
Statistically, the four most common causes of construction fatalities are:
- Falls from heights
- Struck by objects
- Electrocutions
- Caught-in / between accidents
6. Farming & Agriculture
The growth, cultivation, and transportation of food, produce, and farm products is a massive Georgia industry — more than $73 billion is added to the state’s economy each year in this sector alone. But the pressure to keep up with that demand leads some companies to cut corners, making farming and agriculture more dangerous than it has to be.
Hundreds of injuries are reported each day in Georgia’s agricultural industry. Most involve strains, repetitive-stress injuries, and exhaustion, but these can still be serious enough to take someone off the job for a long time. Fatal accidents involving farming equipment and heat exhaustion are a constant threat.
A Legal Gap for Farm Workers
Georgia is one of the few states that provides almost no legal protection for farm workers. Under O.C.G.A. § 34-9-1, farm and agricultural workers are almost never covered by workers’ compensation insurance, and the state doesn’t require employers to provide workers’ compensation coverage for the migrant or seasonal farmworkers who make up much of the workforce. However, if these workers are injured by someone else’s negligence, they may have the right to file a personal-injury claim — farms often carry general-liability or farm-owners’ insurance, and an injured worker can sometimes recover fairly, depending on the circumstances.
Know Your Rights If You Work in a Deadly Industry
Do you work in one of Georgia’s six deadliest industries? You need to know your rights as a worker — just in case you’re ever caught in a bad accident on the job.
You have the right to a safe workplace, even if the work itself is inherently dangerous. If a workplace accident does happen, you have the right to workers’ compensation benefits. And if you work in an industry outside the workers’ compensation system, you may have the right to file a personal-injury lawsuit. Morrison & Hughes proudly represents injured workers from every industry across Georgia.
Hurt on the Job? Know Your Options.
We’ll help you figure out whether workers’ comp, an injury claim, or both applies — so all you have to worry about is taking care of yourself.
If you get hurt at work, call 404-LAW-TEAM or contact us online to see what legal options are available to you. We can be your guides from start to finish.
