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Climbing the ladder (or rope or scaffold) on the job in 2017

March 07, 2018

Did you enjoy monkey bars, jungle gyms, and climbing walls when you were a kid? Maybe you still enjoy climbing. If so, there may be a job for you. In 2017, 18.7 percent of all jobs required workers to climb ladders, ropes, or scaffolds to complete their work assignments. Nearly all jobs among municipal firefighters and electricians require climbing. Many jobs related to construction and telecommunications also require climbing.

 

 

Percent of jobs that require workers to climb ladders, ropes, or scaffolds, 2017
Occupation Percent of jobs that require climbing

Municipal firefighters

99.6%

Electricians

99.5

Telecommunications line installers and repairers

98.3

Municipal fire fighting and prevention supervisors

96.9

Construction carpenters

96.9

Carpenters

96.6

Painters, construction and maintenance

96.6

Telecommunications equipment installers and repairers, except line installers

96.0

Maintenance and repair workers, general

93.1

Electrical power-line installers and repairers

91.0

Lifeguards, ski patrol, and other recreational protective service workers

89.3

Plumbers

88.1

First-Line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers

84.2

Heating and air conditioning mechanics and installers

84.1

Construction and building inspectors

81.6

If heights have you feeling down, you may want a job where you don’t need to climb ladders, ropes, or scaffolds. Overall, 81.3 of jobs in 2017 did not require climbing. In some occupations, nearly all jobs do not require climbing. These occupations include licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses, human resources specialists, and computer programmers, among others.

 

 

Percent of jobs that do not require workers to climb ladders, ropes, or scaffolds, 2017
Occupation Percent of jobs that do not require climbing

Licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses

99.6%

Human resources specialists

99.5

Management analysts

99.5

Market research analysts and marketing specialists

99.5

Computer programmers

99.5

Software developers, systems software

99.5

Educational, guidance, school, and vocational counselors

99.5

Medical records and health information technicians

99.5

Paralegals and legal assistants

98.3

Personal care aides

98.3

Tellers

98.3

Hairdressers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists

96.9

Social and community service managers

96.0

Grinding/lapping/polish/buff machine tool setters, operators, and tenders - metal/plastic

89.3

Inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers

88.1

Nonfarm animal caretakers

84.2

Cashiers

84.2

These data are from the Occupational Requirements Survey. To learn more, see "Occupational Requirements in the United States — 2017" (HTML) (PDF) and the occupational profiles from the survey.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Climbing the ladder (or rope or scaffold) on the job in 2017 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2018/climbing-the-ladder-or-rope-or-scaffold-on-the-job-in-2017.htm (visited March 28, 2024).

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