On April 28, we'll observe Workers' Memorial Day to honor workers who have died while on the job. It's a sobering reminder that not every employee who reports in at the beginning of their workday goes home at the end of it. Indeed, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of fatal work injuries reported in the U.S. climbed 7% over the previous year, and in fact it's the third straight year workplace fatalities have increased. The BLS also compiles a ranking of the most dangerous jobs in the U.S., based on number of fatalities. By that yardstick, the worst job to have if you want to make it home safe every night is anything in the transportation industry, but particularly truck drivers and material moving occupations. which saw 1,388 fatal injuries in 2016, the most recent year for which statistics were available. This helps explain the tremendous interest in autonomous vehicles, although the recent incident in Arizona where an Uber robot car struck and killed a pedestrian might slow the rollout of driverless cars and trucks.
展开▼
