> This reminds me of the kind of talk you hear all the time about
> cops.....laying their lives on the line, etc. That's what you signed
> up for isn't it? You never hear anyone going on about lumberjacks
> laying their lives on the line even though they are "27 more times
> more likely to die on the job than workers in all other occupations
> combined."
>
> http://www.doli.state.mn.us/pdf/jshq_summer2001.pdf
I don't disagree at all with Dennis' basic point, but this breathless "all other occupations combined" actually means the opposite of what the article writer is trying to convey. "All other occupations combined" surely means the average across all other occupations, right? What you'd want to know is the actual fatality rate for loggers, cops, firemen, farmers etc. Or, put another way, how much more dangerous is logging than the next most dangerous occupation (and what is that)?
I seem to remember reading years ago that the top three were logging, firefighting, and farming, in that order, but my memory is fallible to say the least. I do recall that police work really isn't very dangerous at all.