Wonder
Sign up
Log in
Research Outline
Prepared for Mathieu F. | Delivered July 8, 2020
Unsafe Outdoor Industries
Review your project details
Goals
To identify unsafe outdoor industries that employ many workers, in Europe and the United States. This information will be used to identify potential clients who may benefit from a new safety technology.
View less
Early Findings
United States
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the industries with the most unsafe outdoor jobs (ranked by workplace fatalities per 100,000 workers) in the US are logging (
53,600
workers), roofing (
160,600
workers), refuse and recyclable materials' collection (
115,130
workers), agriculture, including farming and ranching (
876,300
workers), structural iron and steel installation (
98,600
workers), construction industry supervision (
598,210
workers), and landscape and lawn service (
100,320
).
Many other jobs in the construction industry are considered unsafe, including construction laborers, construction equipment operators, and operation engineers. The total size of the US construction industry is estimated at
7.3 million
employees.
While the fishing industry is also considered very unsafe in terms of fatalities, the relatively low number of fishers and related workers is relatively low (
520 workers
), so would likely not be a viable target industry.
USA Today notes that the most dangerous industries often involve
heavy machinery
and may take place in locations that may be inherently more unsafe, such as the top of buildings or remote wilderness locations.
Several additional outdoor unsafe industries beyond those mentioned above include
electrical power line installation
and repair (
114,800
workers).
Total electricians (considered an unsafe job) in the United States are estimated at
729,400
, some of which are likely to occur outside.
Europe
According to
E
u
r
o
s
t
a
t
, the
most unsafe
outdoor industries in Europe (ranked by fatal and non-fatal injuries) include construction, agriculture, forestry, fishing, "water supply, sewage, and
waste management
", mining and quarrying, and "electricity, gas, steam, and
air conditioning suppl
y".
There are approximately
12.7 million
employees in the European construction industry. The industry is expected to grow to
$2.0 billion
by 2023, a CAGR of
4.4%
.
The European agriculture industry has approximately
9.7 million employee
s, skewing toward older males.
As of 2017, the forestry and logging industry is estimated to employ
483,700
in Europe, with the highest industry workforce in Poland (
52,700
workers), followed by Germany (
48,000
), Romania (
47,800
), Sweden (
41,000
), and Italy (
39,800
).
There are an estimated
1.8 million
electricians in Europe, though this does not reflect those working exclusively outside.
The mining and quarrying sector employed
417,000
in Europe in 2017.
Workplace safety
in Latvia and France is relatively low, while Germany and UK safety is relatively high.
United Kingdom
Three industries found to be unsafe in the United Kingdom include
building (construction), farming/agriculture, and refuse collection
. There were
1.32 million
construction workers in the UK in 2017, while the number of farm workers is conservatively estimated at 346,000 (the number of seasonal workers is difficult to estimate). The waste collection industry is estimated to employ approximately
167,000
.
The construction industry was found to be the most improved of the top 3 unsafe industries in the UK, though still ranked third in 2019, with
6.05 deaths per 100,000
workers. Agriculture was found to be the
most unsafe industry
in the UK in 2019.
Germany
The most dangerous industry in Germany is
construction
(
2.3 million
employees).
Workplace Safety Technology Trends
Digitizing processes and methods
in the construction industry via technology to improve safety is a workplace safety trend.
Increasing adoption of SMS (safety management systems) is allowing for
tracking and standardization
of safety protocols at construction sites.
The use of smart devices to detect "
cognitive fatigue
" is an industrial workplace safety trend.
IoT devices
have been employed to predict and prevent accidents.
Top European Companies in the Construction Industry
According to Construction Europe magazine, the top 5 construction companies in Europe include Vinci, ACS,
B
o
u
y
g
u
e
s
Construction Divisions,
H
o
c
h
t
i
e
f
, and
S
k
a
n
s
k
a
.
Summary of Early Findings
In our first hour of research, we were able to identify a number of unsafe outdoor industries, and corresponding workers in those industries, in Europe, the United States, UK and Germany. We also found a list of top construction companies (the most unsafe industry) in Europe.
Unsafe industries were generally identified by workplace fatalities (or workplace fatalities and non-fatal accidents). We then provided the most recent workforce statistics as reported by the relevant government agency.
We also identified several safety trends associated with technology in outdoor industries.
Recommendations for further research are based on the information uncovered in early research.
View less