A grey morning inspires the Wombat's morbid streak. Therefore this week's quiz is a memento mori:
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the most frequently seen cause of workplace death in 2003 (as in previous years) was transportation incidents (mostly on highways). The next largest was falls. What was the third largest? Until recent years, it was a very strong #2 -- in the early 1990s, almost tied with highway incidents as the leading work-related "fatal event."
Bonus question: in 2003, the fatality rate (deaths per 100,000 people employed) for logging workers was the highest, at 131.6. What profession had the second-highest fatality rate?
First correct answer to comments wins a tattered copy of the shooting script for the highway safety film "The Last Prom." No Googling or consulting the all-seeing eye of Agamotto. One guess per comment please, but you may comment as often as you like.
Fatal brown-nosing related viral infections; soldier?
Posted by: The Lady B. Yogurt on October 15, 2004 10:49 AMAppreciative-laughter-inflected no; and a second negative, followed by the mention that I'm pretty sure that deaths of soldiers on active duty don't figure into the labor bureau's stats.
Posted by: BT on October 15, 2004 10:53 AMSomeone has to get workplace shootings out of the way. Might as well be me. Though in my case caffeine poisoning is more likely.
Posted by: Scott on October 15, 2004 10:54 AMennui?
Posted by: Scott on October 15, 2004 10:55 AMMedical professionals; being hit by lightning?
Posted by: Gavin on October 15, 2004 10:58 AMWell, if it was workplace shootings, then the extra credit would be postal workers. I hope it's not.
Posted by: Jonathan on October 15, 2004 11:10 AMDo tree surgeons count as loggers? (they shouldn't, really, but I could imagine a spokesperson at Georga-Pacific making the cliam); food processing factory workers.
Posted by: The Lady B. Yogurt on October 15, 2004 11:20 AMElectrocution?
Posted by: Sara on October 15, 2004 11:20 AMDrowning? Crab fishers?
Posted by: terry on October 15, 2004 11:22 AMFarm-equipment maulings. Unless death by combine counts as a transportation incident?
Bonus: farm workers.
Posted by: Sara on October 15, 2004 11:24 AMInfected paper cuts; library workers.
Posted by: Sara on October 15, 2004 11:41 AMI have thought about this long and hard and believe that there is a simple answer -- nay, a single answer -- one that I consider at work on a daily basis; one that follows me from cubicle to cubicle, from partition to partition, from mouse to keyboard to monitor and it is thus:: typing run-on sentences ;) ouch, my fingers, aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!
Posted by: teenidol on October 15, 2004 11:41 AMBurns.
Posted by: Sara on October 15, 2004 11:45 AMCaffeine-overdoses?
Posted by: The Lady B. Yogurt on October 15, 2004 11:46 AMCrushing
Posted by: Scott on October 15, 2004 11:47 AMGotta be farmworkers. And the numbers have gone down because there's fewer people doing it.
heart attack
Posted by: teenidol on October 15, 2004 11:53 AMas far as professions, how about "the world's oldest"
Posted by: teenidol on October 15, 2004 11:54 AMMining.
Posted by: Jonathan on October 15, 2004 12:25 PMtaking old ships apart
Posted by: The Lady B. Yogurt on October 15, 2004 12:28 PMOne of the suggested answers to the main question is near, but too specific.
And remember that the bonus question is about fatality rates: in terms of raw numbers, the biggest die-ers on the job last year were drivers (both sales workers and truckers) by a big margin, followed by farmers and ranchers, and then construction workers.
But two occupations had higher fatality RATES than any of these. The biggest was logging workers with 104 deaths, for a rate of 131.6 per 100,000 employed. But another occupation (the one we're looking for) saw 113 deaths, with a rate of 97.4 deaths per 100,000.
By contrast, the driver deaths average out to only 26.7 deaths per 100,000 -- even though the total number of actual people killed driving on the job was a whopping 861.
Posted by: BT on October 15, 2004 12:43 PMCHICKEN farm workers?
Posted by: The Lady B. Yogurt on October 15, 2004 12:47 PMHow about violence or assault, and police officers
Posted by: scott on October 15, 2004 01:19 PMDivers? Deep-sea divers, not Olympic divers.
Posted by: Sara on October 15, 2004 01:27 PMcoal miners
Posted by: The Lady B. Yogurt on October 15, 2004 01:33 PMFire
Posted by: Jonathan on October 15, 2004 02:00 PMHmm--my crabby guess has potential to be overly specific. How about fishermen (fisherpeople? They're always men on those Discovery Channel shows). And "suicide" seems like a good, catch-all cause of death.
Posted by: terry on October 15, 2004 02:21 PMExplosions
Posted by: Jonathan on October 15, 2004 02:21 PMDrug overdoses
Posted by: Jonathan on October 15, 2004 02:23 PMYou'll have to excuse me, Jonathan, if I ever meet you for lunch because there's no way I'm going to *your* office.
How about accidents? Too general?
Posted by: teenidol on October 15, 2004 02:42 PMLess specific than 'crushing' would be workplace romance.
Posted by: Sara on October 15, 2004 02:50 PMMy family had, while I was growing up, four Fiats. Shortly after my dad had thrown in the towel and gotten a Volkswagen when the last mechanic on the eastern seaboard refused to work his 3100 Sport Wagon, he read an item in the paper that Fiat corporate management felt they had successfully addressed problems of drug use and prostitution ON THE ASSEMBLY LINE.
Smack head and say, No Wonder!
Late Night Convenience Store Clerks. (for the bonus question)
Posted by: hackly_fracture on October 15, 2004 02:52 PMMurder?
Concomitant professions might be many. Like, those guys whose job it is to roll down the gate in front of the establishment 5 minutes before closing time when you really, really needed to pick up that drycleaning or cash that check.
Posted by: terry on October 15, 2004 02:59 PMEquipment accidents.
Posted by: Sara on October 15, 2004 03:16 PMOffice politics
Posted by: Jonathan on October 15, 2004 03:46 PMUnfortunate events.
Posted by: Sara on October 15, 2004 03:47 PMWhat do you call it when you are trying to walk down a secret corridor that is protected by a computer that senses that humans are trying to shut it down so it sends laser beams down the hall that split the crack military team into tiny little parts? That thing.
Posted by: teenidol on October 15, 2004 03:52 PMDeath by drug testing?
Posted by: The Lady B. Yogurt on October 15, 2004 03:58 PMNut allergies.
Posted by: terry on October 15, 2004 03:58 PMInfections.
Posted by: Sara Memmott on October 15, 2004 04:02 PMSpleen.
Posted by: terry on October 15, 2004 04:07 PMBarometric pressure
Posted by: Jonathan on October 15, 2004 04:08 PMTerry gets it precisely: homicide is the answer we were looking for. However, Scott's shooting/assualt combo probably covers 99% of the cases, so consider this week's prize jointly awarded.
The bonus question is still open -- it has nothing to do with homicides (though I like Terry's theory about the poor saps who have to roll down the gates: that must be a high-risk occupation).
Posted by: BT on October 15, 2004 04:12 PMPowerPoint
Posted by: Jonathan on October 15, 2004 04:12 PMOil rig workers
Posted by: Jonathan on October 15, 2004 04:15 PMToll takers
Posted by: Jonathan on October 15, 2004 04:16 PMOrgone accumulators
Posted by: Scraps on October 15, 2004 04:25 PMmurder victim volunteers
Posted by: teenidol on October 15, 2004 04:26 PMBomb squad technicians
Posted by: Jonathan on October 15, 2004 04:31 PMunused ordinance collectors
Posted by: teenidol on October 15, 2004 04:35 PMunexploded ordinance collectors
Posted by: teenidol on October 15, 2004 04:36 PMRoad crew guys holding signs that say SLOW
Posted by: Jonathan on October 15, 2004 04:37 PMPolice officers?
Posted by: Scott on October 18, 2004 11:57 AMKennedys?
Posted by: Scott on October 19, 2004 12:13 PM