The 10 Most High-Risk Jobs in Mexico

A study has revealed the 10 most high-risk jobs in Mexico, and a prevention campaign has been launched among workers.

Regarding this, the most high-risk jobs in Mexico include commercial and warehousing activities, which have a high incidence of incidents every year.

According to occupational health specialists, although progress has been made in prevention within companies, many workers do not follow established protocols.

In the last year, there were 352,461 workplace accidents, nearly 1,000 per day, according to records from the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS).

But beyond that, there is data from the institution suggesting that these occupational risks were not limited to activities that might be perceived as more dangerous due to working conditions.

Additionally, the study of the most high-risk jobs in Mexico found that 36% of workplace accidents in 2022 were concentrated in a group of 10 activities.

These activities range from welding to sales functions, according to the Statistical Report of the IMSS.

Around 102,000 incidents were caused by falls, and 143,000 were attributed to exposure to inanimate mechanical forces.

“There is a whole catalog of dangerous jobs represented in the Mexican Official Standards, jobs involving heights, chemicals, or welding,” says Eloisa Añorve, founding partner and director of Training and Education at the firm Engineering Services in Safety and Hygiene (Servinse).

10 Most High-Risk Jobs in Mexico

Based on the number of cases, here are the 10 most high-risk jobs in Mexico:

• Elementary or Support Activities Workers (24,178 cases)
• Sales Employees, Dispensers, and Store Clerks (16,669 cases)
• Warehouse and Storage Control Workers (14,638 cases)
• Street Cleaners and Cleaning Workers, Except for Hotels and Restaurants (12,729 cases)
• Demonstrators and Promoters (12,456 cases)
• Cooks (11,720 cases)
• Sales Drivers (9,793 cases)
• Loaders (8,773 cases)
• Truck, Van, and Cargo Car Drivers (8,670 cases)
• Unspecified Support Workers in Non-Classified Industries (7,835 cases)

“It is not surprising that commercial profiles have a high incidence because in a factory, the environments are ‘controlled,’ safety personnel conduct risk assessments, but commercial profiles tend to be in the field where nothing can be controlled,” says Javier Díaz, CEO of Medipraxi.

By economic sector, the manufacturing industry in Mexico ranks as the riskiest, with 95,728 workplace accidents. The second position goes to commerce, with 88,278 incidents, followed by services for businesses, individuals, and households, which accounted for 70,278 occupational accidents, according to IMSS records.

BTS Consulting has identified that one of the barriers to achieving a culture of prevention in workplaces are “mental traps.” These “mental traps” are beliefs or thoughts of employees that determine their behavior in safety situations.

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