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The Most Dangerous Professions & Their Pay

One of the most tragic things that occur at the work place are injuries, especially those that lead to death.  Safety regulations in the US are established and managed by OSHA with an effort focused on improving workplace safety, reducing injuries and eliminating workplace deaths.

Unfortunately, a combination of dangerous industries and ignoring safety regulations by companies lead to tragic workplace accidents. In order to better understand what industries are the most dangerous we’ve used data from the US BLS to create a number of charts that highlight workplace industries by job, type of injury, and location.

Loggers & Fisherman – Dangerous Jobs with Little Pay

The chart above highlights the jobs with the highest death rate per 100k workers and the average annual pay individuals in this industry receive.  It’s clear that Loggers & Fisherman have the most dangerous jobs.   Aircraft Pilots also have a high death rate per 100k workers, but at least their salary is the highest amongst dangerous positions.

Mouse Over Chart for Additional Details

Most Deaths Are Transportation Related, Followed by Falls

A significant portion of the work place deaths each year occur from transportation accidents.   Interestingly, falls are the second leading cause of death for on the job accidents.

Fatal Falls by Heigh of Fall

Fatal falls can be from as few as just a few feet.   More people died in 2014 from falling 10 feet or less than those that feel over 30 feet.

Fatal Work Injuries by State

Alaska and North Dakota have the highest fatal injury rate per 100,000 workers.  States with larger populations like California, New York, and Florida have relatively low fatal injury rates.

Fatal Work Injuries Are Declining

The Good News is that fatal work injuries since 2000 are declining.  Unfortunately in 2014 the number of fatal work injuries was the highest it’s been since 2008.

In total almost 5,000 individuals lost their lives for work related injuries in 2014.  That number is still too high and the highest we’ve seen in 6 years.  If you feel you’re in danger while at work, inform a supervisor, OSHA, and contact an attorney to help protect you and your family.

Source: http://www.bls.gov/ooh/

 

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Workplace Injuries by the Numbers

Every year, millions of people are injured in the workplace. Many of these injuries are unavoidable accidents. No matter how many safety regulations are put in place, some injuries are either unavoidable or unforeseeable. However, many workplace accidents are entirely preventable through following government and industry-mandated safety procedures. (You only need to take a look at r/OSHA to see that safety regulations are sometimes ignored.)

What’s worse is that many of these workplace injuries result in death. In 2013 (the most recent year for which there’s data available), there were 4.8 million workplace injuries and 3,700 workplace deaths. While still relatively uncommon, each death is a tragedy that businesses and government should take every measure to avoid.

To better understand the problem, we researched the most common causes of workplace injuries and deaths in the United States.

Most workplace injuries happen in the government sector, followed by Educational and Health Services and Manufacturing.

Workplace injuries by industry

The Bureau of Labor Statistics collects data on overall workplace injuries by job sector. An injury can be anything from a relatively minor scrape to a serious wound. The most injuries of all types occur in the government sector because relatively more people work in government than in more dangerous professions like construction, for example.

The most commonly injured body parts are the trunk, legs, and head.

Workplace injury by body part affected

According to BLS data, workplace injuries most frequently occur on the trunk, which makes up 233,340 cases, or 30%. After that, leg injuries make up 30% of the total, and injuries on the head comprise 10%. A catchall category—“multiple parts”—makes up 13%.

Most workplace deaths occur in construction, transportation, and warehousing.

Workplace deaths by industry

As you may expect, construction workers are the single largest group represented in workplace deaths with 770 deaths reported in 2013 (again the year with the most recent data available). Approximately one in five workplace deaths in the United States happen on construction sites.

After construction, transportation and warehousing make up the second largest portion of workplace deaths, with 625, or 17% of the total.

Falls are the leading cause of construction site injuries

Top causes of injury for construction workers

According to OSHA data, falls account for the largest single portion of workplace injuries. While most of the rest of workplace injuries are uncategorized, the next leading causes are being caught in or between machinery and electrocutions.

But these numbers are just the raw total number of incidents. To really see which professions are the most dangerous, we have to look at the number of workplace deaths relative to the number of workers in the industry. Hard Money Property, a hard money lender in Los Angeles commented that the home construction industry and real estate industries have seen steady declines in work injuries because of new legislation.

Per capita, the most dangerous sectors are agriculture, mining, and transportation.

Worker mortality rate by industry

It actually turns out that agriculture is the single most dangerous industry, in terms of workplace fatalities, accounting for approximately 21.7 deaths per 100k full-time workers. Mining follows next with 12.2, then transportation and warehousing with 11.9. Construction comes in fourth with 9.1 fatalities per 100k full-time workers.

It’s worth keeping in perspective that on-the-job fatalities only make up a relatively small portion of the accidental deaths in the United States.

More than half of accidental deaths happen at home.

Unintentional injury related death by class

66,000 accidental deaths—about 50.7%—happen at home. Just over a quarter—25.3% happen on-the-job. The vast majority of the rest happen in public, mostly by automobile accident.

Even though some professions are more dangerous, accidental death can happen to anyone. Safety is important for everyone. If you’re ever put in a dangerous position at work, bring it up with your supervisor, and, if that doesn’t work, consider hiring a lawyer.

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A Personal Injury Lawsuit Analysis

The U.S. has an astounding number of personal injury lawsuits every year. In 2014 alone, there were almost 300,000 lawsuits filed. That’s an average of 1 lawsuit per every 1,150 people in the country. Very often, plaintiffs make legitimate claims in these lawsuits. Faulty equipment, lack of adherence to safety regulations, and other factors can cause people to get seriously injured and entitled to compensation for their medical care and suffering.

Unfortunately, not all personal injury lawsuits are legitimate. Some people just want to use lawsuits to make easy money, and will find fault with everything from overheated cups of coffee to inadequate warning labels on machinery.

While it may be nearly impossible to quantify the legitimacy of personal injury lawsuits, it is indisputable that they play a major part in the United States justice system. For better or for worse, consumer protection laws provide monetary and legal recourse for those who feel they’ve been wronged.

With this in mind, we decided to research the aspects of personal injury lawsuits that can be quantified, starting with: just how many are filed each year. These charts explore the fluctuations in lawsuits filed over the last ten years, the number of lawsuits filed per region of the country, and the number of lawsuits filed per state.

Though we often hear about personal injury lawsuits in the news, they don’t actually comprise the majority of civil lawsuits in the U.S. Only a quarter of the lawsuits filed annually are personal injury suits. Still, 76,000 suits is an impressive number for just “a quarter” of the total lawsuits filed.

all-lawsuits-filed

There has clearly been an uptick of personal injury lawsuits filed over the course of the last several years. The average number of lawsuits filed per year has jumped from just over 50,000 between 2004 and 2007 (including one outlier of a year in 2006) to more than 70,000 in the years after that, a 40% jump in less than a decade. See how the numbers break down for each individual year.

lawsuits-filed-2004-2014

As is evident from the next two maps, there are wide discrepancies in the number of lawsuits filed in different regions of the country. The West has half as many lawsuits filed as the Midwest and Northeast, and less than 4% as many lawsuits as the South (and if you look at the breakdown by state, we think you can find the reason why).

lawsuits-region

And finally, after sifting through all these numbers, we stumbled upon what seemed like a mathematical error, but is in fact, true. The takeaway: What’s the deal with West Virginia??? While it’s understandable that some states will have more lawsuits filed than others, it’s absurd for one state to have 300 times as many lawsuits filed (even adjusted for population). Pretty unbelievable.

lawsuits-wVA

Our analysis revealed some very surprising insights but also led to even more questions. Why were so fewer people injured in 2007 compared to 2006? Why are fewer personal injury suits filed in the Western half of the country? And most importantly, what’s going on in West Virginia?

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Do You Have a Wrongful Death Case on Your Hands?

If you have just lost a loved one, you may feel his or her cause of death was due to gross negligence on someone else’s part and are itching to file a lawsuit to feel both vindicated and compensated for your loss at the same time. While many cases do justify filing suit, others do not fit in with California law and a wrongful death attorney in Los Angeles will be able to explain to you whether you have a case or not and why.

Some people do suffer fatal accidents on the job, but if your loved one died because of an accident cause by his or her employer, this will fall under the jurisdiction of a worker’s compensation claim and not warrant a wrongful death suit. However, if the death may have been caused by a fellow employee or someone else at the place of work that day, talk to a Los Angeles wrongful death lawyer right away to learn if a valid lawsuit can be filed.

If the death was caused by medical negligence, the case can become even more complicated and you want to hire a Los Angeles wrongful death attorney who specializes in and has vast experience in these types of cases. California has very specific laws regarding medical negligence that can also overlap into medical malpractice suits. California law also requires 90 days’ notice of the intent to file a claim in a medical wrongful death suit.

Any wrongful death suit must be filed in the jurisdiction where the defendants in the case live, or at least in the jurisdiction where the accident took place. Where the plaintiffs live is not a consideration, and if you are suing a local government, the case must be filed in the county of that local government. A wrongful death attorney in Los Angeles will go over all of these specific rules with you and put you at ease has he guides you through this process.

The people entitled to compensation if a wrongful death suit is one are surviving spouses, children and stepchildren. If the deceased was not married, parents and/or siblings might be entitled to monetary damages. Wrongful death suits can result from automobile accidents, work-related fatal injuries, nursing home or assisted living negligence or even vehicle malfunctions like brakes or a steering wheel not working right. If you do think you have a valid wrongful death case, call us now to learn if we can help you find vindication and justice for your loved one’s death.

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Choosing the Right Wrongful Death Attorney

When a loved one dies, the last thing many people think about is a lawsuit. You are grieving after all and the grief process takes time. Filing papers, meeting with lawyers and going to court is not even fathomable at the time, but eventually you may realize this death was caused by negligence and feel the need to be vindicated and compensated for it. That is where finding the best Los Angeles wrongful death attorney come into play.

The statute of limitations for filing a wrongful death suit in the state of California is two years, so you do have a little bit of time to grieve before tackling anything this momentous and detailed. However, it takes time to file a lawsuit and gather all the facts so meeting with a wrongful death lawyer in Los Angeles should take place soon after your loved one has passed. Each wrongful death case is different and your Los Angeles wrongful death lawyer will go over the individual circumstances of your family member’s death to determine if there is a case at all, and if there is, what kind of monetary compensation can be fought for.

Many wrongful death suits never even go to court and are settled through a series of meetings and mediations. And you will never have to worry about the case becoming public if you do not want it to. In California, wrongful death settlements are only publicized if both parties agree. Confidentiality may be key in your decision to file a wrongful death suit, so this is something you don’t have to worry about as your privacy will be preserved.

Some cases that warrant a wrongful death lawsuit are automobile accidents, malfunctions with a vehicle, negligence in an assisted living or nursing facility, hospital and doctor negligence, or accidents on someone’s personal property. Family members can be compensated for medical expenses, funeral and burial expenses, loss of income over a lifetime and non-economic damages above these expenses. However, those damages are capped at $250,000 in the state of California. Types of non-economic damages include compensation for loss of care, comfort and support.

Many wrongful death attorneys in Los Angeles will not charge you a fee unless the case is won and money is recovered, so the cost of filing a suit is usually not something you need to worry about. You are also not required to pay the other party’s court costs in California. Call us today to find out if your loved one’s death may be the result of legal negligence and discuss the possibilities of a wrongful death lawsuit.

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What Constitutes a Wrongful Death Lawsuit?

A wrongful death lawsuit is initiated by the family of the deceased and can result from a number of causes of death. A Los Angeles wrongful death attorney will be able to walk you through the process of getting a lawsuit off the ground during this traumatic time in your life, and also help you understand what a wrongful death lawsuit is. Knowing the ins and outs of this type of lawsuit is the first step in getting one right.

A Los Angeles wrongful death lawyer will explain that these types of lawsuits result when a death is caused by the negligence of somebody else. This somebody does not have to be an individual person. It can also be a company or organization whose practices are directly responsible for a loved one’s death. The causes of death that can often result in a lawsuit include, but are not limited to, poor and negligent care in a nursing home or assisted living facility, the recklessness of a drunk or intoxicated driver, a doctor’s failure in diagnosing something potentially fatal and a malfunction in an automobile that results in an accident.

You should contact a wrongful death lawyer in Los Angeles almost immediately any time you feel someone else’s gross negligence caused the passing of your loved one. This is an understandably hard time for you as you experience the grief process, but California places a statute of limitations on wrongful death lawsuits. In general, you have two years from the date of death to file your lawsuit. This may seem like a long time, but the sooner you feel justice may be served, the better. If you miss the statute’s deadline, then your suit will be automatically thrown out of court.

Those entitled to compensation in a wrongful death lawsuit are the surviving spouse and children on the deceased. In some cases, parents and siblings may be entitled to a sum if there were no spouse or children involved. What your monetary award may be based on includes medical and funeral expenses, the cost of the burial, projected future earnings of the deceased, as well as pain and suffering. Many wrongful death attorneys in Los Angeles will not even charge a fee for this kind of case if they do not win. So, financial wise, there is very little risk involved. If you feel your loved one’s death could have been avoided and was caused by someone else, call our offices today to set up an appointment that can lead you on a path to healing.

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What a Personal Injury Lawyer Can Do For You

Many personal injury lawyers in Los Angeles promise the moon and the stars, but the best attorneys are the ones who are up front and honest with you from the start. They will tell you whether you have a case or not and will offer you a free consultation even in the hospital to determine if your injury warrants a lawsuit.

Even if a day in court is not what you are entitled to and you are dealing with insurance companies due to an auto accident, know that you do not have to go it alone. Many people try to fight insurance companies without any professional help and often do not get the best results. A claim adjuster’s job is to make sure the insurance company he or she works for pays out as little money as possible, but a Los Angeles personal injury lawyer’s job is to make sure you are compensated fairly for your accident. Insurance companies are not just involved with auto accidents, but can become a factor if you have slipped and fallen on someone else’s property.

And, if you are not dealing with insurance companies, but still feel you are entitled to compensation due to an accident that was no fault of your own, a Los Angeles personal injury attorney can guide you every step of the way, but a good one will do it with honesty. He will tell you of his and his practice’s experience and it is not unusual if he understandably brags about large monetary sums he has won for clients, but the best attorneys will tell you that every case is different and do not expect the same results, even if it is the same type of injury.

The types of personal injuries that often get a day in court or a settlement out of court include dog bites, automobile accidents, wrongful death, bicycle accidents, injuries incurred due to burns and assault and battery cases (these may have a criminal day in court as well). And remember to not choose just any personal injury lawyer in Los Angeles to represent your interest in these types of cases. Do your homework and find one with a high success rate. Ask around and see if any family or friends can recommend someone, or even a lawyer you know who has a different specialty. This can be one of the most important things you have ever pursued in your life and you want the best personal injury attorney in Los Angeles to get the job done right for you.

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LA Personal Injury—Do You Have a Case?

If you have been injured in any way through no fault of your own, you may wonder if filing a personal injury lawsuit is the right choice for you. But, first you must consider what constitutes as a personal injury and whether you actually have a court case on your hands.

There are various types of injuries that can result in a lawsuit. They include slips and falls, bicycle accidents, automobile accident and dog bites. However, you cannot be responsible for any of these injuries in order to sue someone else for them. A little background on them can help you decide if you need to call a Los Angeles personal injury attorney. For example, if you were injured in a car accident because another driver fell asleep at the wheel, a Los Angeles personal injury lawyer would probably say you have a case and want to represent you. Also, you may have taken a slip and fall in a restaurant where the floor had just been washed and a sign was not posted to tell you so. This often means your fall is the restaurant’s responsibility.

A good personal injury lawyer will discuss all aspects of your case with you and let you know what your chances of winning are. Many do not even charge legal fees until they have won the case for you. They should understand that you have had an injury and possibly cannot travel, which means they are willing to make either house or hospital calls to consult on your case. A personal injury lawyer in Los Angeles will be open and honest with you on how good a case you have, as well as what court will be like, as no court case is easy and can often be nerve-wracking. You should have a rapport with your lawyer, but also be as open and honest with him as he is with you. Without all the facts, a personal injury attorney in Los Angeles will not be able to try your case correctly.

If you do indeed have a personal injury lawsuit on your hands, you could be compensated for medical bills, income lost while being out of work as well as punitive damages for any pain and suffering you may have endured. Do not trust this type of case with just anyone and go with experience. If you have been injured through no fault of your own, call us today and find out if you may be entitled to compensation.

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Choosing the Right Los Angeles Personal Injury Lawyer

Experiencing a personal injury can be a traumatic experience to both the mind and body. If the injury was caused by someone else, it can be even more damaging to your life and you feel the need to take legal action.

There are various things a Los Angeles personal injury attorney can fight for on your day in court. If you incurred large medical bills, your lawyer may be able to get you compensation for them. Your injury may have also caused you to miss work and therefore lose income, so that loss in money can also be fought for in a personal injury suit. Punitive damages that go above and beyond any money lost may also be awarded for any pain and suffering you might have incurred.

Finding the right Los Angeles personal injury lawyer is of the utmost importance. There are two types of personal injury attorneys in Los Angeles. First are the lawyers who will defend people or company’s against a personal injury case and next are the lawyers who will represent plaintiffs. That is the kind of lawyer you want to choose, but do not just pick someone out of the phone book. Be careful who you choose to represent you in such an important court case. You may want to ask friends of family for recommendations, as word of mouth can often be the best referral and also a confidence booster.

However, you may not know anyone who has ever had the need for a personal injury attorney in Los Angeles and may have to go other routes to fund the right lawyer. You can search the internet and often find a lawyer’s credentials listed on various sites, including state bar association sites. You are looking for personal injury in Los Angeles who has years of experience handling these types of cases, as well as a fairly good success rate. Once you have narrowed down your search to just a few lawyers, call them up on the phone and talk for a bit. You can often get a good feeling about a person this way, as well as bad feelings.

The next step is to meet with the lawyer and explain your case. A good personal injury lawyer will do house calls, or even hospital calls, if necessary. And many will not even charge any fees until your case has been won. Filing a personal injury lawsuit may be one of the most important things you do in your life and you do not want to trust this case to just anyone.

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Vehicular Accidents in Los Angeles: Settling Claims for Damages

Motor accidents can cause fatal injuries and irreparable consequences to an individual. If an accident impacts on you personally, or to somebody in your family, the best thing that you could do to claim back costs and the pain suffered, is to employ a car accident attorney. This person will essentially show you how to claim damages against the person liable for the damages you sustained. The lawyer will examine how much that person should pay to you. The terrible truth is you will find many cases are due to negligence, DUI delinquencies, and other consequences that result from human errors.

Auto accident investigations allow the aggrieved party to be indemnified in an appropriate way. There are so many things that can result from automotive injuries. An individual might suffer from serious injuries and disablements, together with broken legs which can result in amputation. He or she may no longer be able to report to work because of this. The worst thing that may happen is that the victim may in the end pass away if no medical care and care is given.

Aside from the physical agony, a person who happens to be a victim of a car accident may feel serious harm which could lead to a depressive disorder. He or she might develop a fear of vehicles or anything related the incident. It’s very demoralizing on the part of the victim. Psychological suffering can damage a patient’s life and everything can go worse. Not surprisingly, a person who has lost his arms or his upper thighs will lose self confidence. He may just stop existing normally.

There are many attorneys in Los Angeles who concentrate on car accident cases. They are the finest people to turn to in this kind of event. A Los Angeles car accident attorney commits his time and efforts to ensure that the client is well taken-care of. During car accident cases, a skillful legal counsel works with paralegals, good researchers, and other individuals who will bring together pieces of the case to reach a favorable result for the client.

During motor vehicle accidents, the lawyers investigate who is really accountable. Some typical factors that might be considered are the condition of the vehicle’s engine, machines, breaks, chassis, etc. They also look at whether the owner has been negligent in installing car parts, or has not checked the engine and other car parts before driving.

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