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November 20, 2007
Dangerous Jobs
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| Image: The most dangerous jobs in the US in 2006. The other day I had a conversation with a friend about public safety pay. I said one reason given for them receiving high pay/benefits was because of the risk associated with the job. He countered by saying that being a roofer was more dangerous, and they don't get great pay. I thought he made a good point, and one worth sharing. The most dangerous jobs in America don't necessarily come with high compensation or benefits. And also, public safety workers aren't on that list. Like all statistics, the list can be a little misleading. Much of the risk associated with a job can be reduced through training. On my second ride-along the officer I was with said that some new recruits "wash out" because they never get a handle on police safety. For example, if there's a bank robbery and the police pull up in front of the bank, that's unsafe. They should pull up around the corner where they can't be an obvious target. Officers that don't get this get the boot. Firefighters are probably more than willing to rush into a burning house and save a baby. But beyond that rare circumstance, they are probably trained not to rush into burning homes. When I was in the Army we did a lot of dangerous things. We improvised bombs from barrels of diesel fuel and plastic explosives. We repelled off 100' foot towers, face first, while firing M-16s (blanks, live rounds would have been dangerous). But we spent plenty of time training for those activities. At the time they didn't seem dangerous at all. "Pilot" is on the dangerous jobs list, and that is a highly trained and typically well paid position. But that occupational statistic could be skewed by pilots flying personal aircraft who have less training. Another interesting job is "driver". In the 2005 statistics that included truck drivers and outside sales personnel that drive for a living. The occupation of driver being unsafe is mostly an indictment of all drivers being unsafe. Who would have thought those low-pay high-commission sales people were risking death when they hit the road?. "Driver" could also include paper delivery and flower delivery, two dangerous jobs I have held. But I thought it would be informative to point out that dangerous jobs don't always come with high pay or benefits. Here in America the most dangerous jobs seem to be those that would historically be considered "blue-collar" jobs. So if you're a roofer, agricultural worker, or traveling sales person, please be careful. And get some good life insurance. |
| Economic Debate Results: Last
night's debate drew a pretty large crowd. Rich Uncle Pennybags suggested
that we
invest immediately in Railroads and Utilities and seek to create a monopoly
in those areas. Wimpy felt that borrowing money from the RDA, and gladly
repaying it on Tuesday, would be in our best interest. Tonight we have Captain Planet discussing why "no growth" is a necessary policy for our community. He'll also be giving tips on where to purchase a nice mullet hairdoo. Bob the Builder will be discussing the benefits of having, and challenges facing, the local building industry. Please support my campaign for City Council by attending this informative debate. |
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CI Challenge: Can you guess what it is? Winner: Anthony Watts, see comment below for the answer. |
Posted by Lon at November 20, 2007 07:50 AM
Comments
I found the 2002 version of that chart
http://money.cnn.com/2003/10/13/pf/dangerousjobs/dangerous2.gif
not that it helps much, but it's definitely different.
Posted by: TrevHastings at November 20, 2007 08:39 AM
The CIC challenge is the front end of the Porsche Capt. Planet drives
Posted by: Anthony at November 20, 2007 08:51 AM
The CI challenge looks like a Snarfblat, or a thingamajigger maybe. Or part of an A/C Unit.
Posted by: TrevHastings at November 20, 2007 08:51 AM
No Wait. It just hit me.
It's the torso of the robot from Lost in Space. Danger Danger WARNING WARNING!
Posted by: Anthony at November 20, 2007 09:26 AM
CI Challenge: Side view of that robot (or, robut for anyone over the age of 70) from Lost in Space.
In looking at the costs I was very surprised to see that the City pegs its public safety workman’s compensation cost at $7 per $100 of payroll.
There is a big boat load of job classifications that run far higher than that number for workman’s compensation insurance.
For example, I doubt that there are any local construction related jobs with a workman’s comp rate that low.
Presumably those rates are set in response to historical costs to treat work related injuries, illness and health issues. Therefore, you would expect to find that job classifications with higher rates of work related injury or health issues would have a higher rate.
Though, you’re right to point out that proper training and equipment go very far to keep injuries down, and quite clearly those folks are frequently in very stressful situations where they need to be highly trained and highly tuned into the situation looking for signs of danger.
EG: Seeing Lon Glazner with an M16 would scare the day lights out of any sane and rational person….
Another potential influence on the workman’s comp rates is the so called IDR (Industrial Disability Retirement). I have not seen any local statistics, but have heard it said that most retirees go out on a disability retirement. Presumably some or all would be related to a workman’s comp claim of occupational injury. If that is true, then you would expect that to be a significant component of the workman’s compensation costs.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4176/is_20040514/ai_n14572607
http://www.mercurynews.com/search/ci_5182616?IADID&nclick_check=1
http://www.lao.ca.gov/analysis_2005/transportation/tran_04_2720_anl05.htm
http://lists.cacities.org/pipermail/employee_relations/2004-December/000729.html
http://www.calchiefs.org/items/ltr050505-eklund.doc
Posted by: Mark Sorensen at November 20, 2007 11:09 AM
Wow! Apparently, I'm a glutton for punishment. Worked my way through college doing construction and farmwork. And as any pro pilot will tell you, the most dangerous part of our job is the drive to the airport. We do have those pesky exploding lithium batteries to deal with in the cargo biz though. I'm feeling a little undercompensated.
Posted by: Sean at November 20, 2007 12:38 PM
So was I right with the thingamajigger comment? The lost in space robot could be called a thingamajigger. ;-) or a snarfblat.
Posted by: TrevHastings at November 20, 2007 01:04 PM
Sean,
Just be happy you never had to drive a flower truck.
Lon
Posted by: Lon at November 20, 2007 01:37 PM
flower trucks smell like flowers.
Posted by: TrevHastings at November 20, 2007 02:19 PM
Anthony,
You are the CIC winner. That's the robot from this photo.
http://www.cloudster.com/Sets&Vehicles/RobotB9/robot09.jpg
Lon
Posted by: Lon at November 20, 2007 02:53 PM
Trevor,
When I'm driving they smell fire, smoke, and rubber. The good thing about delivering flowers is that most people are happy to see you (funerals excepted). The bad thing, a pizza driver gets more tips in one night than I got in a year.
Lon
Posted by: Lon at November 20, 2007 02:56 PM
i know how that is. working as a line cook, you'd figure you'd make alright tips, but nooooo $3 a night at best. nobody tips ppl unless it's the pizza guy or a nice restaurant where they never let you back in if you don't tip.
Posted by: TrevHastings at November 20, 2007 03:19 PM
Thanks, this CIC challenge was easier because the photo didn't look like a "Horta" to me, even though the clue was approximately from the same time period. Weird, once I knew what it was, I could pull out the pattern, but prior to that, red blob was all I could see.
FYI Carrol O'Connor was considered for the role of Dr. Smith...can you imagine Archie Bunker and the Robot getting into an argument?
Posted by: Anthony at November 20, 2007 03:52 PM
Posted by: TrevHastings at November 20, 2007 05:17 PM
Trevor,
I find that link extremely funny.
Lon
Posted by: Lon at November 20, 2007 05:23 PM
I always thought a pedicab driver would be about the most dangerous worst paying job.
Posted by: Gregg Payne at November 21, 2007 07:35 AM
It is a clip from an "adult" (not pornographic) cartoon on cartoon network called Robot Chicken. I always think of it when Captain Planet comes up in conversation.
Then I realize that I had been running around the office painted blue screaming "CAAAPPTTAAAAINNN PLAAAANNEEETTTT" for the last ten minutes.
Posted by: TrevHastings at November 21, 2007 07:38 AM