According to a story in this week’s RCR Wireless News, the deadliest job in America is constructing, upgrading, and repairing cell phone towers (which can be hundreds of feet tall). The fatality rate for cell phone tower workers is currently 183.6 deaths per 100,000 workers, making it more dangerous than other risky jobs such as ranching, fishing, logging, and ironworking.
Five tower workers died during one 12-day span earlier this year alone. 18 tower workers died on the job in 2006. An investigation into the rise in fatalities in this industry has yet to trace the increase to any specific cause.
