Evening star., 1935-06-09
Death a Respecter of Occupations
BY FREDERIC ]. HASKIN.

Death has been declared to be no
respecter Of persons, laying his hand
alike on kings and beggars. but
studies Of the United States Public
Health Service show that death is a
respecter of occupations. 1t is shown
that the death rate among the profess
sional classes is only out of every
1000, while the death rate among
unskilled workers is 13 per 1000. In
deed, the death rate for the unskilled
is so per cent higher than for all
other workers combined
There are some highly hazardous
occupations which are claSSed as
skilled, such as the occupation of
structural steel workers, where a high
death rate is shown, but taking broad
claSSifica lions it is the unSkilled more
frequently visited by death. Com
pared with every 100 deaths among
the unskilied, there are but So among
the professional claSSeS-doctorS, law
yers, dentists and the like. For every
100 deaths among the unskilled there
ere but o6 among business executives
and managers and the same number
among clerks and Office workers. 1t
would seem, almost, that death re-
spects the white collar. Among the
skilled industrial workers, mechanics
and so on, there are IS deaths for
every 100 among the uEskilled.
tuberculosis is the guise in which
death comes most frequently among
the unskilled. OF all the deaths in
that class, 13 out Of every 100 were
caused by tuberculosis Of the lungs.
This compares with a figure of only
5 out of each 100 among professional
and business men. The tuberculosis
death rate is more than twice as high
in the ranks Of the unskilled as in
all other Occupational classes COM
blned. For business men, on the other
hand, the tuberculosis rate was only
half as high as for all others COM
bined
tuberculosis, pneumonia and acci-
dents are regarded as the greatest oc-
cupational hazards with close rela-
ton to the job. It is interesting TO
note that accident incidence is high
est among the skilled industrial work.
ers, 4 out of every 100 deaths In
the group being accidental. Liver
diseases, diabetes, suicide and heart
disease show higher incidence
among business men than in any 9TH
er occupational class.
Comparison With England.
The study was made with especial
relation to work. That is, only those
deaths occurring among men gain
fully employed have been taken into
consideration. The figures show that
for each 100000 men gainfully en-
ployed the deaths Of IT'S were caused
by heart disease. Next comes tuber-
culoSis of the lungs. with figure of
88 out Of every 100 900 at work. Can
Ger shows 81: pneumonia. SO: kid
ney disease. 48; brain hemorrhage.
AZ: suicide. 35; accidents. 80; dia-
betes, 12 liver disease, II, and all
other causes, 306.
The study includes another group
ing which shows the manner in which
death respects occupations. For every
10000 professional men gainfully en-
ployed, 10 deaths from all causes are
reported. For owners, managers and
officials there are "A deaths out Of
every 10000 For skilled workers the
count is 81 deaths out Of every 10000.
Here comes the big jump, for there
are l31 deaths out of every 10000
unskilled workers employed.
A comparison was made with ex-
perience in England as being prob
ably the most comparable industrial
country. The experience shows some
notable differences. 1t is shown that
the death rate among manual work.
ers is higher in the United States
than in England, while the profes-
sional and business group shows a
higher rate in England. For the
skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled, the
death rate is much higher in the