Without the safety net provided by workers' compensation, jobs in many industries may be too dangerous for most workers to be able to bear the financial and health risk. Often, some of the industries and sectors that see the most activity in terms of overall workers' compensation claims and total payouts are those that top the list of the most dangerous occupations year after year. For example, construction industry jobs, some transportation industry jobs, and commercial fishing jobs are all commonly cited as bearing some of the greatest risk for on-the-job injuries and illnesses. Interestingly enough, several of these sectors are not covered by state-level workers' compensation systems. Instead, workers' compensation claims for some commercial fisherman and transportation workers are overseen by the federal government, especially if the workers are federal employees. If you want to find out whether your job is covered under state or federal guidelines for workers' compensation, talk to your employer for more details.