5 of the most dangerous jobs in Australia

Heading out into the workforce as a teenager just finished school, you probably didn’t have a great deal of knowledge about working, or about what industries have high risk associated jobs, so you might have chosen an industry where you thought you would be able to set yourself up for the future, and create a good life by working hard.

No matter what industry you choose, or chose, there are risks associated with them all.  From the most simple of jobs in hospitality, to the defense force – every job has some sort of risk.

So what are the most risky, and dangerous jobs that you can do?  In 2016, there was 178 total workplace related deaths in Australia. Here are the 5 industries that pose the most risk to workers.

5. Mining

Of the top 5 highest risk jobs around, mining comes in at number 5. In 2016 there were 7 deaths in the mining industry in Australia, however non-fatal injuries were high, and always are very high, due to the high risk environments of mines.

4. Manufacturing

Although there were only 3 deaths in 2016 in the manufacturing industry in australia, there were also a large number of non fatal injuries caused by machinery and human error. There is an average of roughly 13,000 injuries in manufacturing every year.

3. Construction

There were 30 deaths in the construction industry in 2016, and the risks of injury are very high. On average there are over 11,000 construction industry injuries reported every year, taking the risk in construction to very high levels.

2. Transport, warehousing & storage

There were 64 deaths in 2016 in the transport industry. Because road accidents are common in the industry, risk levels are very high. There is roughly 10,000 serious injuries reported in this industry every year.

1. Agriculture, forestry and fishing

   There were 41 deaths in 2016 in the agriculture, forestry and fishing industries. The lower number of workers, versus the quantity of deaths and serious injuries takes the risk factor rating to much higher levels. In fact the risk levels of injury or death in these combined industries are around 30% every year.