Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy… We’ve all bad days at the office and most of us, at some time or another, hate our jobs and long to do something else. But what if your job was so hard, so stressful or dangerous that it could kill you?
Why do some men and women take on dangerous professions and what do those jobs involve? We’ve come up with thirteen of the most dangerous jobs you don’t want.
1. Crab fisherman
If you’ve ever been crabbing you’ll know just how dangerous those claws can be. But it isn’t the crabs that make a commercial crab fisherman’s life so dangerous. Crab fishing is all about very long hours in very rough seas. Fishermen work for up to 20+ hours at a stretch searching for crab. A good catch can earn tens of thousands of dollars, but the cost of failure can be a watery grave.
2. Deep Sea Diver
The deeper you dive the more you earn and the more dangerous it gets. According to the ‘Dangerous Jobs Guide’, some divers working on offshore oil rigs can earn over $100,000 a year. If you want to become a deep sea diver you will need to train for six or seven months in diving, welding, physics, keeping calm under stress and it obviously helps if you can swim.
3. Driver
Chauffeurs, Taxi Drivers, Truck Drivers; with tight deadlines, long hours and the ever growing number of vehicles on the road, accidents are common. With a fatality rate of 20 in a 100,000, driving for a living really is one of the most dangerous jobs on earth. So, if you want a tip, don’t become a London cabbie – according to the ‘Discovery Channel’ it’s the toughest job in the UK.
4. Jockey
There’s no more dangerous job in sport than that of a professional jump jockey. Skydivers, motorbike racers, formula 1 drivers, even boxers run less risk of being killed or seriously injured than the riders of thoroughbreds. Riding in a race like The Grand National isn’t for the faint-hearted and one Australian study, covering more than 75,000 races, recorded 3360 race falls which resulted in 861 serious injuries and five jockey deaths. It remains the only job where an ambulance follows you around!
5. Window Cleaner
If you want a high level job, they don’t get much higher than cleaning the windows of a skyscraper. Even in our health and safety mad society – with safety harnesses, helmets and cradles – the dangers of abseiling 30-storey buildings claims several lives each year. In Britain, skyscraper window cleaning is recognised as the most dangerous job on land and only adrenaline junkies with nerves of steel need apply.
6. Bomb Disposal Expert
Trying to deactivate bombs, missiles and land mines, sometimes under enemy fire, has to be one of the most terrifying jobs in the world. Bomb disposal units are often called upon to investigate potential terrorist threats, and whilst robots can clear around 80 per cent with certainty, hands-on deactivation is sometimes the only safe and effective option. The job resulted in at least 500 deaths in the US from 1996 to 2002.
7. Farmer
It might sound like an easy-going and peaceful occupation, but the job of a farmer isn’t always as tranquil as it appears to be. It’s the oldest male profession in the world, but the job is fraught with weather-related risks, heavy machinery accidents, and livestock dangers. In the UK an average of 36 deaths per year was recorded over the last five years.
8. Pilot
You’d expect the job of a test or fighter pilot to be dangerous, and the fatality rate of rescue operation pilots is as high as 78 per 100,000. But pilots who fly in Alaska seem to have the toughest flying job of all. The land is rugged and sparsely populated, with pilots flying twin-engine planes for medical emergencies, supply delivery and to travel across the vast state. In the decade from 2000 to 2010, there were over 1100 plane crashes in Alaska, with an average of 21 deaths per year between 2006 and 2011.
9. Firefighter
It isn’t all saving cats stuck up trees and sliding down poles. Firefighters have to be well-trained, physically fit, cautious and brave. You only have to remember 9/ll to realise how dangerous the life of a fire fighter can be; 341 fire fighters were killed in the aftermath of the attack, the largest number ever killed in a single incident. In the UK eight firemen died on duty in 2007 alone, the worst year since 1985.
10. Policeman
A policeman’s lot is sometimes not a happy one. Even in these times of bullet-proof vests, gas masks, shields, and batons the job of the police is becoming more dangerous with each passing year. In the last 100 years 548 policemen have been killed in Britain alone. This includes 300 officers in Northern Ireland killed, often executed, during the troubles. Around half of all the fatalities these days involve vehicles.
11. Miner
Whether it’s an oil rig or a copper mine, diamonds or coal, mining for natural resources has always been a deadly occupation. Above ground, gas and oil wells can blow unexpectedly, walls of slate can fall. For those who toil underground in mines, there’s always the risk of tunnel collapses, tumbling rock, and falls down the mine shaft. For every 100,000 workers in the mining industry, 38 lost their lives in 2011.
12. Dustman
It’s a dirty job but someone has to do it. But incredibly, the seemingly everyday job of garbage collecting is more dangerous than policing or fire fighting. With 36.4 fatal injuries a year per 100,000 workers, this is a high risk profession. Garbage bags can explode under pressure, releasing dangerous chemicals, broken glass, syringes – and anything might suddenly become a lethal projectile. Sixty per cent of injuries are from transportation – falls from the back of collection trucks in moving traffic whilst using compacting equipment.
13. Soldier
This list wouldn’t be complete without recognising those brave men and women who serve in the armed forces. There is no more dangerous job in the world, particularly in times of conflict. A soldier’s life can be ended with the pull of a sniper’s trigger, the detonation of a bomb in a booby-trapped building, even in a training exercise. In terms of total numbers of lives lost and terrible injuries, there’s no more dangerous or stressful job than to become a member of the fighting forces.
Paul Warrander
Latest posts by Paul Warrander (see all)
- 13 Deadly Jobs You Don’t Want - January 16, 2014
I didn’t know the Crab fisherman is the most dangerous job on earth. I always love to go fishing as it is my hobby. I had no idea that fishing job can be the most dangerous job.
You’re right about the dangers of being a fisherman. The watery grave reference has an unfortunate level of accuracy.
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Almost as important as knowing what you do want is knowing what you don’t. This is full of quality tips; knowing the risk you’re willing to take for a job is essential.
This is a creative list. Growing up, I never viewed truck driving as a deadly job. Now that I’ve been driving trucks for 7 years, it’s one of the most dangerous jobs in the world. Over the years, I’ve seen some bad trucking accidents and I’ve lost a few friends. You think a big rig can protect you from harm but that’s not always the case. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen Ice Road Truckers, but they did a new theme about truck drivers in other countries. These big semis would have to drive on dirt roads with no guard rails, thousands of feet on the side of a mountain. Just crazy as can be. Trucking is certainly a deadly job, more deadly then some think.
This is a very interesting post. I didn’t think being a farmer would be on the top 13 list! Thanks for the info.
even if you paid me 1 million per year I fell in deep waters as merhulhador … the risk of dying is too large
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I would have to agree that crab fishing is very demanding! My cousin went up to Alaska and worked on a fishing boat for an entire summer and he worked very long hours every day. At the top of my list was definitely bomb disposal expert. Why you would ever want to go into that career is beyond me but bless them for doing it.
I hope all these jobs provide salaries that are comparable to the risk.
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thank God i’m an engineer 🙂 i hate all jobs you have mentioned but wanna to say good luck to people who work this kind of deadly job because not every one can be able to choose what he want this is for sure so god bless them 🙁
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Bomb disposal for me. The most terrifying job from the list. Window cleaning is obviously extremely dangerous, but if you love the height ( I\’m one of those mad people) and the amazing feeling it brings you may apply for an cleaning interview if you run out of job options.
Good article though.
You forgot one of the most deadliest job and that is Logging workers. I think it is close to Crab fisherman.
Number 7 I think it is not so bad. My farther is a farmer for twenty years, he still loves his job. I agree that it is hardwork, takes a lot of responsibility and certainly not an easy money-making venture either, but with me, it is a nice job. Because I was raised by a farmer. 🙂
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Hi Daniel,
Farming is a great life, but it is dangerous. It teaches common sense and thinking ahead, because when you do not there can be lethal consequences.
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Very interesting post and I think the most Deadly job is being a soldier. My salute to them, and thanks to you too for sharing this.
You have mentioned some amazing facts about these jobs. These jobs are really the deadly jobs, which suck.
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LEts talk about tower dawgs… the guys that leave their families for months at a time to travel around to climb 2 3 400 feet in the air so we can have laptops and cell phones and ipads i would love to see those statistics!!! whoop!
Well ! The Bomb Disposal looks the most deadly one 😀
Everyone wants to be brave but not a Soldier. All the careers mentioned above are truly deadliest careers available.
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Hi Paul,
I personally feel that “Deep Sea Diver” job is very interesting as you get the chance to explore the beauty of the deep sea. There are a number of beautiful creatures down there which makes you amazed, though I’m not talking about a shark. 😉
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Agreed with all of the above deadliest careers listed above, I’ve never wished to go for any of the careers.
Thanks
I completely agree with this list, especially the window cleaner, that made me actually laugh thinking about that. It’s one of those jobs that no one ever thinks about really, at least I don’t because I don’t live in a big big city, but it is rather comical to think about the job ad for a window cleaner.
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I would love to be a farmer and blog everyday. You have jotted down some of the amazing jobs here, thanks a ton for this amazing post.
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Salute to the Farmer, who make everyone more alive by producing wheat and rice!
I am a bit confused re Comment Luv and GASP. Are they the same thing? Irrespective of that, why do you use two check boxes? Also, you ask me for my website URL and then complain that you cannot get a feed. What is the relevance of that comment? I checked the first box an unchecked the second.
I think a Captcha would be less confusing that having two boxes – one ready-checked ( what\’s the point of that) and the other unchecked. I came here to see how GASP works and I am even more confused now than when I started!!
I cannot see myself subjecting my visitors to this level of confusion! Please explain.
Now your system is telling me I have Javascript disabled – I certainly do not!
Pete
Hi Pete,
CommentLuv and GASP are NOT the same thing. CommentLuv allows bloggers to choose a related post to share with my readers. The feed message is because you had the CommentLuv box checked, but don’t have a feed set up in CommentLuv.
I do have a choice of changing the default regarding whether the CommentLuv box is checked or not. Originally almost all of my readers were bloggers who use CommentLuv so I probably have the box checked by default. Now that I have many more small businesses reading my site, perhaps I should default that to NOT checked.
GASP blocks spambots by requiring humans to check the box. Captcha often fails for technical reasons and the ones that are secure can be so hard for people without perfect vision to read that they can never comment. Just checking the box is far simpler. If your computer gives you a message that javascript is disabled most likely you couldn’t use captcha either.
That is usually caused by an issue with your browser or because javascript is corrupted on your computer (which would affect multiple browsers). If that were the case, though, you would not have been able to leave this comment.
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I may agree with a few, but there are other jobs which brings with it a lot of respect, like a soldier. One should take pride in his residing country and take strides to save it. A few are challenging jobs, but are passion of a few. So may be, not all are the same for everyone.
Hello,
That’s an obvious post and I’m thinking the same about the careers. I think military career would most deadliest career of all the above.
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Cool post!
My six-year-old son wants to become a firefighter or policeman.
What do I tell him. 🙂
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