Top 10 Occupations Likely To Cause An Accident

Whatever occupation you currently do, statistics tell us that some occupations are far riskier than others when it comes to getting behind the wheel in a vehicle and causing a road accident. Whether that be travelling to work, during work or travelling back home. Here are the top 10 occupations that are statistically more likely to be involved in a car accident so you can see how you stack up.

1 – Travel Workers

Travel workers who travel more than 3 times a week during a 5 day working week are more likely to be fatigued by long hours of travelling and will be more likely to be involved in a road accident. Travel workers include, air hostess, pilots, managers, tour guides. Statistically Travel workers surveyed said they have been involved in an accident 8.81% of the time within the last 5 years.

2 – Human Resource Professionals

On the other hand, coming in second with a report of 6.83 percent in the last 5 years, HR professionals deal with a variety of departments and often need to meet the demands of both the company and the people who work for the company. They constantly need to keep both parties happy and that requires real management skills to keep it at a balance. Therefore, hours maybe long and because they’re mind is always ticking over in the background means a lack of focus when they are behind the wheel.

3 – Healthcare Professionals

Healthcare professionals such doctors, nurses, Sonographers, age care workers etc, also have a significant risk when it comes to getting behind the wheel and causing an accident. This comes down to the gruelling hours of shift work which constantly places a strain on their body and putting it out of sync. Some also work hours in excess of the normal 8 hours a day and when this happens, the more fatigue your body will be which leads to a sleepy eye behind the wheel. At a report of 5.59 percent being involved in an accident in the last half a decade.

4 – Information Technology

On par with the healthcare professionals comes the information technology professionals and IT geeks. In an age where the world is more reliant on technology and gadgets and computers in the palm of our hands. There is also a demand for IT professionals to work around the clock to ensure that servers do not go down and website services remain up 99.99 percent of the time. Which calls for IT experts to always be on call even when it means 2am in the morning.

 

5 – Customer Service Operators

Just peaking in at the half way mark of 5 and at a reported statistic of 5.5 percent being involved in a traffic collision are Customer Service Operators. These are the people who are on the phone or dealing with customers a majority of the day. Sometimes in excess of 6 hours a day. Using that much energy to keep customers happy will surely take a toll on your mind, which means after your shift you may just want to switch off the brain and relax even before you have made the journey home and that is where the lack of judgment and lack of focus cause an error of judgement on the road.

 

6 – Hospitality Workers

With workers in hospitality industry it is often physically demanding for chef to be in the kitchen for a long period to meet with the demand of the food orders coming in and waiters or waitresses who have to be on their feet all day to run out the food to the diners. Hours could be like shift work also especially if you work in banquets where they cater for events, and these events could be breakfast, lunch or dinner and as a worker you may work all 3 taking the working day in excess of 12 hours. Which would no doubt give you a massive amount of fatigue on the road even if you take on only 3 of those shifts a week.

 

7 – Real Estate Professionals

Coming in at seventh place, the constant need of dealing and meeting with clients and opening houses for inspections and driving to another. Real Estate Professionals do have to be constantly on the go. Obviously for one reason being they work on a commission as well as on a wage. Meeting the demand of clients, no matter what time they need and being available 24/7 is the key to being a successful agent. However, doing so, you may as well just be overworking yourself to the ground to the point where you can cause an accident on the road.

 

8 – Professor

Of all the people that we surveyed, 5.14 percent stated they had been involved in car accidents work as professors. Professors often are known to be book worms and have long hours of study to get to where they are academically. This place a lot of pressure on the mind and body when they are not focusing on their books. Which can cause a lapse of judgement while driving too.

 

9 – Accountants

Similar to professors, accountants come next in line with 4.24 percent working as accountants have stated to be involved in a car accident. Just like professors they have a long journey of study and often have very long hours near end of month when they need to reconcile the books and also at tax time. So the risk of an accident to and from work incurs that risk.

 

10 – Trade Workers

Finally stacking up at tenth, trade workers such as construction workers, labourers, painters, gardeners, crane operators, removalists etc, who are the ones most likely on the road travelling from site to site, day to day. This creates the need to work long arduous hours to keep up with the project schedule and milestones. Which can cause a large amount of fatigue, which will no doubt affect their judgment while behind the wheel.

 

However, you would think that trade workers would be ranked as the top spot since they are on the road endlessly but statistics show that being on the road more also gives them ample driving experience so they can proactively deal with hazardous situations on the road rather than having a reactive nature.

Our Mission….

Occupational Health Advisory Association is a program dedicated provide resources and advice to assist people about preventable injuries at work. Every day, as a daily routine people get up and set off to work saying goodbye to family members for the day, not realising that there is a significant amount of risk that you will run into during the day that will cause you to be injured. While many risks are small such as slipping on a puddle right outside your front porch, there are definitely larger risks once you step into a working environment and it depends on what sort of employment you do.

OHAA’s mission is to provide as much valuable resources and tips as possible to help people manage that injury risk assessment to prevent injury or loss of life at work.