Most of the times, the factor we give the most consideration when seeking for a job or business, is the pay. We just want to know how lucrative the job/business is, what the returns are like. But there are much more important factors that are begging consideration. One of the most important of them all is the fatality rate of the job or business in question. It is true that every lucrative business has a certain level of risk and fatality attached, but for these jobs, setting out for work every new day is completely life threatening.
Here are the Deadliest Jobs to do in the World:
15. Truck and Heavy Duty Vehicle Driving
The risks faced by truck drivers are known to almost everyone, especially those who use the roads frequently. These drivers always convey great masses of goods between vast distances across the country. Most of the times, their journeys are made at night. There is this rumour that most truck drivers are diabolical – they have the ability to disappear in cases of mishap. This is because of the very low survival rate in cases of truck accidents which are usually fatal. The rate of accidents are very much higher where the roads are in bad conditions or during unfavorable weather conditions which can blur the driver’s vision as the heavy-duty trucks are prone to fatal falls whenever they jump into pot holes. The case of drivers transporting inflammable goods like gas, petrol or diesel is even worse as the accidents are much more catastrophic.
14. Farming, Ranching and Other Agricultural Management Jobs
13. Construction work
This include roofing, carpentry work, high-rise metal constructions, building bridges, setting up telecommunication masts etc. It’s never always safe or easy when it come to these jobs. Specifically, roofers are always exposed to extremely high temperature intensity which is very hazardous to health. Even in the midst of extreme carefulness and safety measures, catastrophic accidents still occur. Sometimes, the workers slip from ladders thousands of feet above the ground, they may fall from roof tops or as well sustain grave injuries from their usually harmful tools and equipment – hammers, saws, chisels, nails, etc.
12. Wild Animal Capture and Taming
When we visit the zoo and game reserves, we enjoy seeing wild animals we know we’d never have seen in real life if not that our fellow human beings captured and tamed them. Capturing and training predators such as lions, elephants, crocodiles, snakes or killer whales can be a daunting task, considering that sharp teeth and a taste for blood are traits that all these animals share. It’s true that these professionals have already established and proven skills and tactics that enable them safely capture and train these wild beasts, but the fact remains that a wild animal is a cannibal! They still run very great risks of being hurt, if not consumed by these animals. In fact, many years back in a zoo in Nigeria, a lion ate the person who attends to it. On some other occasion in another zoo, also in Nigeria, a lion escaped the zoo without any one knowing its whereabouts.
11. Body Guards and Armoured Car Drivers
Depending on what part of the world we are talking about and who or what is actually being guarded, these jobs can get quite hairy. The risks involved in this job range from being the target of robbers and other criminals to fatal accidents as a result of over speeding. For those who guard banks and carry cash from place to place, they usually stand the risk of being shot dead during robbery attacks. The same with those guarding high-profile men as they are always the target in other for the criminals to have access to whatever they want which is being guarded.
10. Sanitation Work – Road sweeping, Refuse Disposal and Recycling
The potential exposure to all sorts of hazardous materials raises the danger level of sanitation work. These are the people who directly deal with the society’s worst, therefore, they stand the risk of contracting deadly communicable diseases on a daily basis. They may also be inflicted with other forms of respiratory illnesses, especially those involved in recycling who are exposed to toxic chemicals. As for the road sweepers, they stand the chances of being crushed by vehicles in the course of their duty. This risk is only reduced to an extent when they work in the early hours of the day when the roads are less busy. All the same, in most developed countries, the roads are ever busy even in the midnight. For instance, if you’ve been to Kiva, Rwanda you’ll understand exactly what I’m talking about as you will see women work all hours of the night in busy traffic and less than friendly neighborhoods.
9. Line Men And Electrical Power workers
Working with high-voltage equipment on a daily basis, installing and repairing electrical devices is bad enough, but working with electricity high above the ground is even worse and more fatal, because in addition to the potential danger of electrocution, that of fatal falls are also glaring. I have personally witnessed an incident where an electrical power repairer was silently electrocuted while working on a faulty electricity transformer without anybody noticing until after a while when he should have come down but remained there, stone dead! The extreme case is even when a lineman does this while hanging out of a helicopter! Those working on telecommunication lines are also relatively exposed to as much danger. Records have shown that the job is even getting more dangerous as the fatality rate has increased by 18%.
8. Expressway Hawking
This is prevalent in African countries, mostly in the very busy commercial cities of Nigeria. Thousands of youngsters involved in this business daily risk being crushed by fast-moving vehicles, or even vehicles that lost their breaks. The reason a lot of people prefer it to stationary selling is because of its high turn-over rate. But the risk attached is untold. They are mostly seen where the roads are not so smooth and also around check points. The hawkers are grossly exposed to several road mishaps as they spend a greater part of the day on these roads selling. I personally know of a teenage girl involved in this type of trade who was crushed to death by a trailer.
7. Search and Rescue Team
The services of the search and rescue team are employed usually in cases of building collapse, fire out break, ship wreck, earth quake, land slide, flood, plane crash and so many other natural and artificial disasters. Whatever and wherever be the case, on land, air or sea, search and rescue work is never safe. It is one of the deadliest work to do as these professional rescuers are equally faced with the same danger the people they are about to rescue are facing. They have to go to the most dangerous sites, and on several occasions get serious wounded, trapped or killed in the process. For those that work on high seas, they run the risks of being attacked or swallowed by dangerous aquatic animals as well as being frozen by chilling temperature degrees.
6. The Armed Forces (Police, Army, others)
The armed force jobs use to rank top in the list of most dangerous jobs, but with so many laws being put in place now to ensure their security, as well as the drastic fall in the level of patriotism in the uniform workers, the life risks attached to the job has greatly gone down. All the same, working with any of the security or armed force agencies is actually life threatening. On several occasions, they have to put their lives on the line to save others. Also, in cases of robbery or other crimes, they are always the target for shooting and killing by the criminals. Worse still, in situations of war or other forms of chaos, they are always on the front to maintain law and order and while doing this, there is no going back even when they stand chances of being killed.
5. Fire Fighting Services
High risk is inherent in a firefighter’s job; fighting flames in forests and rescuing people from burning buildings demands extreme physical and mental strength. On some occasions, in the course of putting out the fire, there may be an explosion and the fire fighters are trapped in the fire themselves. They are also prone to respiratory ailments which may arise from inhaling smoke.
4. Aircraft Pilots and Flight Engineers
It is true that air travel is considered the safest means of transport but this works more for the passengers who are not on air everyday of their lives. For those who it is their profession, their lives are daily put on the line. The main reason this job ranks with most dangerous jobs is because of the high fatality rate and the very low possibility of rescue or survival in cases of accidents. Among other very dangerous jobs, pilots have the highest pay, and that’s what convinces people to take the risk!
3. Mining
It is a well-known fact that mining is a job that brings about so many deadly health challenges. It is such a dangerous job that miners wear emergency breathing devices at all times in order to help give them enough time to escape a disaster. In addition to cave-ins and explosions, miners face dangers they cannot see, from carbon monoxide to methane gas, and many chronic and fatal health conditions are linked to their toxic work conditions. Miners contend with many daily health dangers from working around dust, heavy metals and machines, hazardous gases, fumes and loud noises. I’ll not be able to go into details of the hazards associated with mining but the truth is that it pays well. But I think life should be considered prior to wealth. Mining used to out rank deep-sea fishing in terms of associated dangers, but with improved security measures put in place presently, the fatality rate has reduced.
2. Deep Sea Fishing
This job runs very high risk of fatal accidents. Reports suggest that over 24,000 fishermen die throughout the world each year! The fishermen’s lives are always at great risk since they are exposed to all forms of wicked and carnivorous sea animals, including monsters. Apart from that, they are faced with other life threatening attacks like long nights out on high seas, freezing temperatures, storms, tempests etc. In fact, this is the only profession where one could face a danger that has no remedy – being swallowed whole! It used to be the deadliest job, but recent discoveries have shown that logging is currently taking the lead.
1. Logging
Among all jobs, logging is considered to have the highest fatality rate. Despite safety standards and high-visibility attire,(which in some situations are not fully provided), falling trees and dangerous equipment combine to make logging the most deadly profession in the world. Logging workers are faced with life threatening accidents everyday of their lives. On many occasions, big trees fall in the wrong direction killing the worker outright, the wrong branch may break, with the worker having the deadliest fall, or still, the sawing machine may turn out to saw humans instead of logs. Times without number, loggers have lost their limbs to sharp saws. In addition, they work very long hours in thick forests. The job is generally the most tedious and back-breaking job ever.