Tag: human resources

OM in the News: The Top 10 Most Dangerous Jobs in America

Every 104 minutes, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) says an American worker loses their life on the job. While some of us might consider a bad day at work to be a crashed computer or a long class or meeting, thousands of Americans face life-or-death stakes every day they begin their jobs.  From the peaks of skyscraper steel to the depths of the Pacific Northwest forests, here are the 10 most dangerous jobs in the U.S. today, according to Industrial Safety & Hygiene News (Feb, 26, 2026)

1. Logging Workers

Fatality Rate: 98.9 per 100,000 workers. Primary Cause of Death: Contact with objects/equipment (falling trees).  The Hazard: Falling trees and heavy machinery

2. Fishing and Hunting Workers

Fatality Rate: 86.9 per 100,000 workers.  Primary Cause of Death: Transportation incidents (drowning/capsizing).  The Hazard: Drowning and vessel capsizing

3. Roofers

Fatality Rate: 51.8 per 100,000 workers.  Primary Cause of Death: Falls to a lower level.  The Hazard: Gravity.

4. Refuse & Recyclable Collectors

Fatality Rate: 41.4 per 100,000 workers. Primary Cause of Death: Transportation (struck-by vehicle).  The Hazard: Being struck by passing motorists.

5. Aircraft Pilots & Flight Engineers

Fatality Rate: 31.3 per 100,000 workers.  Primary Cause of Death: Crashes in small aircraft.  The Hazard: Mechanical failure or weather in bush/regional flying

6. Construction Helpers

Fatality Rate: 27.4 per 100,000 workers.  Primary Cause of Death: Falls and exposure to harmful substances.  The Hazard: “The Fatal Four” (Falls, Struck-by, Caught-in, Electrocution)

7. Heavy & Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers 

Fatality Rate: 26.8 per 100,000 workers.  Primary Cause of Death: Transportation incidents (roadway collisions).  The Hazard: Highway collisions and fatigue

8. Grounds Maintenance Workers

Fatality Rate: 20.5 per 100,000 workers.  Primary Cause of Death: Falls and landscaping equipment.  The Hazard: Equipment entanglement and heat stroke

9. Agricultural Workers

Fatality Rate: 20.2 per 100,000 workers.  Primary Cause of Death: Transportation and contact with machinery.  The Hazard: Tractor rollovers and silo entrapment

10. Iron and Steel Workers

Fatality Rate: 19.8 per 100,000 workers.  Primary Cause of Death: Falls, slips, and trips.  The Hazard: Falls and swinging heavy loads.

 

As we see, logging is the most dangerous profession by a massive margin. Logging workers are nearly 33 times more likely to die on the job than the average worker. The national average across all jobs is 3.3 per 100,000 workers.

While ” Construction Helpers” are No. 6, the broader construction industry saw the highest total number of deaths (1,032), even if their per-capita rate is lower than loggers. Nearly 11% of fatal falls result from a height of 30 feet or higher.

Classroom discussion questions:

  1. Ergonomics is an important part of job design (see Chapter 10 of your Heizer/Render/Munson text). How could it be used to improve safety in these jobs?
  2. Can the physical environment be changed to make any of the jobs safer?

 

 

OM in the News: Hiring With Algorithms

Xerox call center

Our Chapter 10, Human Resources, Job Design and Work Measurement, covers almost every OM aspect of  dealing with employees–except how to hire them. As I think about all the instructors and staff I have hired over my 40 year academic career, I realize many personnel decisions were based on resume length and intuition. So The Wall Street Journal’s article (Sept.20, 2012) on how computer modeling is upending the way workers are hired caught my attention.

For more and more companies, the hiring boss is an algorithm.  Jobs that were once filled on the basis of work history and interviews are now determined by data analysis. Under pressure to cut costs and boost productivity, employers are trying to predict specific outcomes, such as whether a prospective hire will quit too soon, file disability claims or steal.

The new hiring tools are part of a broader effort to gather and analyze employee data. Globally, spending on so-called talent-management software rose to $3.8 billion in 2011. Though hiring is a crucial business function, conventional methods are usually short on rigor. Depending on who decides, what gets candidates hired can vary wildly—from academic achievement to work experience to appearance. Managers hunches generally have little value in predicting how someone will perform on the job. The statistical approach to hiring can improve results by reducing the influence of a manager’s biases.

When looking for workers to staff its call centers, for example,  Xerox used to pay lots of attention to applicants who had done the job before. Then, a computer program said that what does matter in a good call-center worker—one who won’t quit before the company recoups its $5,000 investment in training—is personality. After a short trial that cut attrition by a fifth, Xerox now leaves all hiring for its 48,700 call-center jobs to software that asks applicants to choose between statements like: “I ask more questions than most people do” and “People tend to trust what I say.”

Discussion questions:

1. What are the advantages of this software-driven approach?

2. How can algorithms help determine how much to pay workers?

OM in the News: Do Happier Employees Work Harder?

I may be one of the few OM profs who think that Chapter 10, Human Resources, is the most important  in our text. As a former college administrator, I  agree with the conclusion in the New York Times  article (Sept. 5, 2011) that “happier people do work harder”.  But a recent Gallup poll finds: “People of all ages, and across income levels, are unhappy with their supervisors, apathetic about their organizations and detached from what they do”. This translates, according to the Times, into a staggering $300 billion in lost productivity annually. “When people don’t care about their jobs or their employers, they don’t show up consistently, they produce less, or their work quality suffers”.

So what does it take to keep employees happy and motivated?   The answer (according to a Harvard study) is that progress in meaningful work is primary. As long as workers experience their labor as meaningful, progress is often followed by joy and excitement about the work. Ensuring that workers are happily engaged is not expensive. Well-being depends on managers’ ability and willingness to facilitate workers’ accomplishments–by removing obstacles, providing help, and acknowledging strong effort. (Which is exactly what Dr. Deming said for decades). “Promoting workers’ well-being”, writes the Times, “ isn’t just being ethical; it makes economic sense”. Those who lead organizations –from CEOs to small team leaders –need to recognize that their mission is to support workers’ everyday progress.

With sports on our minds, here is a video clip of what may not fit the positive motivation the article espouses. We see Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly in a rage against a player in  last weekend’s game against USF.

Discussion questions:

1. Ask students what bosses had the most positive or negative motivation over them–and why.

2. Comment on the  Brian Kelly video.

3. Tom Peters once said: “If you don’t sincerely care about the people who work for you, become a consultant, not a boss”. Comment.