New Jersey’s most dangerous jobs revealed

Kenilworth police had the unenviable task of sharing the tragic news of a construction worker who was killed Monday morning. Only 29 years old, the worker was trapped in a trench after attempting to install a storm drain in back of a business at 351 Monroe Avenue.

“First responders attempted life saving measures but unfortunately the accident resulted in the worker being pronounced dead at the scene,” authorities shared on social media.

Horrible.

An AFL-CIO study sheds light on some of the most dangerous jobs found here in New Jersey and across the country. While construction is always dangerous, with 9.6 deaths per 100,000 workers according to most recent available numbers from labor data, it’s not the most dangerous.

Farming, forestry and fishing tops the list at 18.6 fatalities per 100,000 workers. Mines, quarries and oil extraction caused 16.6 deaths for every 100,000 workers. Transportation and warehousing was responsible for 14.1 fatalities per 100,000.

Almost 5,500 workers died on the job nationwide in 2022 and that was up from 5,190 the year before. The AFL-CIO report says workplace deaths have been on the rise and part of the problem is workers fear retaliation for reporting unsafe conditions.

The good news? New Jersey isn’t anywhere near the most dangerous state. According to the report the states with the most workplace fatalities in 2022 were Wyoming, North Dakota, Mississippi, New Mexico, West Virginia and Louisiana.

New Jersey is on the safer end as explained in this story by Big Joe Henry.

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Jeff Deminski only.

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