It’s official: Working in admin is more dangerous than roofing

After a tumultuous year, many Brits are job-hopping and changing industries, but some jobs are more dangerous than others.

A new study by GoCompare Life has analysed HSE data from the last five years to find out which jobs are the most dangerous in the UK, based on workplace fatalities. The data also looked at how much you can expect to be paid for taking on a more risky job.

Construction is the most dangerous job AND one of the highest paid
According to GoCompare Life’s analysis, working in construction runs the highest risk of all the industries analysed with 17% of workplace fatalities. Great heights, heavy loads and live machinery all contribute to making it more dangerous than a desk job.

Farming, including livestock and crop, ranked second with 16.4% of total fatalities and Manufacturing placed third with 13%.

The top 10 MOST dangerous jobs in the UK & their average salary 

The highest paid role in the top 10 most risky jobs was working in real estate, with an average salary per year of £53,000. However, it’s not all selling sunsets as this job accounted for just under 2% of all fatalities.

The data revealed that in 2019 a staggering 97.3% of workplace fatalities recorded were males, while only 2.7% were women.

32% of fatal accidents are a result of falling from a height.

While high scaffolding, cranes and large machinery are all essential for many of these risky industries to work, it comes as no surprise to see they’re also the biggest cause of death. Of all the fatalities analysed, 32.19% of them came as a result of falling from a height.

The second most common cause was being struck by a moving vehicle (22.2%), followed by deaths caused by moving objects (19.98%).

45-54 year olds are most at risk, accounting for 18% of fatalities.

The baby boomer generation accounted for 18.02% of all workers who died in 2019. The next highest age group was between 35-44, where 17.12% of fatalities occurred.

Generally, the youngest workers seemed safer. There were no deaths for ages 16-19 and workers aged 20-24 age group accounted for just 7% of total workplace fatalities, suggesting that under 25’s are safely learning the tricks of new trades.

To see the full study, please visit the campaign page here.