Public servants with dangerous jobs

[Clint]

Industrial insurance rates tell more than some would like to be known. We hear a lot about how dangerous it is to be a police officer or a firefighter. I used “industrial insurance rates” in a Google search and one of the first ones to come up was Washington State. Here is an example of what I found:

Occupation/ Rate:

Fire, City/County / .7824

Police, City/County / .7527

Police, State/ 1.0496

All other City employees / .9257

Solid Waste Collection/ 2.1490

Crop Duster (for perspective)/ 13.0987

Looks like the public employees with dangerous jobs are the garbage collectors.

[lady cop]

police/garbage collectors...same thing.

[Clint]

lady cop wrote: police/garbage collectors...same thing.
That's something numbers can't express. You have a stress factor in you work that is huge.

[lady cop]

at least those coffee grounds and cantalope rinds don't carry weapons, i wonder why the difference in rates? interesting. and stress IS a recognized factor in police and fire-rescue personnel. stress-induced heart problems for us are covered by workers' comp. we get two free psychiatrist visits per year also!

[Clint]

It’s actually something I have dealt with a lot over the years. I used to have to go to budget meetings where the Police Chief and Fire Chief would use the danger factor to get money. The first time I pointed out that a Utility Worker’s industrial insurance rate was higher than either Police or Fire , you would have thought I had committed a crime. I would never dispute the stress the Police have to deal with though.

I think that the fact that Police Officers and Firefighters are exposed so much potential danger has caused them to ramp up their procedures to the point they have effectively reduced the actual incidents. I expect that one of the safest places to work, is in a plant where they routinely handle explosives.