Maryland Farmer Work Safety : Labor Dept. Says Farming Jobs Among Most Dangerous, Prone to Accidents

When people think of hazardous occupations, a certain few come to mind, such as fire fighters and police officers. However anyone in Maryland who does farming and agricultural work already knows what a government report revealed to be true: Farming work is hazardous and can cause injury and death. What might surprise some is national statistics for fatal farming accidents reveal that farming work is more dangerous than firefighting or police work combined.

U.S. Department of Labor data show that the national rate of fatal occupational injuries for farmers and ranchers in 2009 was 38.5 per 100,000 full-time workers — as compared to 13.1 for police officers and 4.4 for firefighters. City dwellers and other people who don’t live near working farms may not realize how dangerous farming work can be. Labor Department economist Jim Rice told Market Watch that “…you probably hear less about people dying when tractors roll over on them. For those who do work on farms, it’s still a dangerous occupation.”

Maryland farmers, ranchers, and others in the agriculture industry work with heavy equipment and vehicles. Like construction workers, these hard-working Maryland farmers put in long hours doing heavy labor–particularly now that the warm weather has arrived. If you live and drive in Maryland, you may already have noticed farm vehicles on the rural roadways –which pose traffic accident risks for both the farmers and other motorists.

As Maryland farm equipment accident attorneys, we are well aware of the risks of injury and fatality that come with farming work. We also know that serious traffic accidents can happen when hurried Md. motorists come upon a tractor or other piece of agricultural equipment in the road, or livestock in the road. See links below to more Md. accident injury attorney articles about sharing Maryland’s back roads with tractors and other farming vehicles.

Risky Business: Jobs You Never Knew Were So Dangerous
Market Watch via Yahoo! Finance Feb. 14, 2011
Related Maryland Injury Attorney articles:

Car Accidents with Farm Equipment on Public Roads in Maryland: When Lifestyles and Vehicles Collide

Maryland Car Accidents with Livestock and Other Animals in the Road

Maryland Farm Vehicle and Auto Accident Prevention: Do State Regulations Go Far Enough?

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