With the many demands that the human race puts on the Earth, it is no wonder that there are many dangerous jobs out there that have to be done by someone who needs the job badly enough to actually put their life in danger every day to make money. These are just the top ten of those dangerous jobs.

10. Snake Milkers

Snake milking is a very necessary, often forgotten-about, yet very dangerous occupation. With the demand for antivenin being higher than ever due to large numbers of venomous snakes growing yearly, it is no wonder that the risks of the job such as transporting, trapping, and handling dangerously venomous snakes puts the death rate for snake milkers at 14 per 100,000 people in the field every year.

9. Oil Riggers

Photo credit by Archer7319, via Wikimedia Commons

Oil riggers make a great deal of money doing what they do, and for good reason. They are out in the middle of the ocean for months or years at a time depending on the job description, they work insane hours with no steady schedules, and there is the constant threat of being trapped on the rig if it explodes or bursts into flames. There are on average 42 deaths per year out of every 100,000 oil riggers.

8. Loggers

With a fairly high fatality rate of 72 per 100,000 loggers, it is no wonder that people are relatively scared by this job. Threats to these hardworking individuals include equipment failure or backfiring, trees falling on them, weather hazards, and backbreaking labor in its most literal sense.

7. Firefighters

Photo credit: South Carolina National Guard firefighters, via Flickr

Obviously, going into a burning structure or area is a dangerous idea no matter who you are, but if you are truly looking to become a firefighter, be aware that you are going to be appreciated every day for merely surviving. Firefighters have a yearly death rate of approximately 100 out of every 100,000 people who follow that career path. Smoke inhalation, falling burning debris, and actual burns are the most likely culprits in most accidental deaths in the firefighting profession.

6. Steel Construction Workers

Photo credit: Greg Younger-Flickr

Imagine being 50-200 stories up above the street wearing only a small wire harness to keep you from falling to your death, and this job is one which will likely come to mind. People in this line of work constantly have to worry about being hit in the head by steel beams as they are being moved by cranes, falling a very long way to their deaths, or even being affected by dizziness from the heights, making the death rate for this job 56 out of every 100,000 people who are brave enough to do this job per year. During the construction of the Empire State Building, 5 people reportedly died from various work-related accidents.

5. Underwater Welders

As if the mere description of an underwater welding job isn’t terrifying enough, imagine the actual job itself. Electrical equipment being used while completely immersed in water is extremely dangerous, with an estimated 70 out of 100,000 people dying while completing their jobs each year. Deaths have been reported due to electrical shock, underwater explosions, decompression sickness, and even internal hemorrhaging from being under too much pressure for too long, making this one scary occupation indeed.

4. Crab Fishermen

Crab fishing has been glamorized by television shows lately, but the job comes with obvious, imminent danger every single day. From carrying heavy gear and equipment, to getting caught in ropes and pulleys, to being knocked out by a wild boom, fishermen are often the most gruff and worn out workers you could ever imagine. Sometimes at sea for 12 months at a time or more, there is a chance that anything could happen. 80% of fatalities and injuries while crab fishing are caused by being thrown overboard or hypothermia, and the job wields a startling 200 deaths annually per 100,000 crewmen.

3. Prostitution

Photo credit: Blemished Paradise - Flickr

Prostitution is illegal in many places not only because of moral reasons, but because so many horrible things happen to those who choose or are forced to take that route as a profession. The rate for injury on the job is at a shocking 86% of all people in this line of work being accosted or hurt somehow by clients or other people in their profession. The death rate for prostitutes is a whopping 206 per 100,000 workers. Only a handful of places have legalized this as a job out of concern for the health and safety of those who do it.

2. Law Enforcement/ Repo Men

By CPL WILLIAM I. SALAZAR, USMC, via Wikimedia Commons

Of course law enforcement work is dangerous. There are at least 320 policemen killed every year around the world, and that number seems to be steadily increasing, unfortunately. Shootings, robberies gone bad, car chases, and generally crazy everyday crime and happenings can kill someone in this line of duty at any moment during the day. Repo men are not policemen by any means, but their line of work is just as perilous, boasting the same average number of deaths due to people being insane with rage over losing their cars and possessions for whatever reason they try to use as an excuse, and often go after the people trying to repossess their cars with guns, knives, other cars, or dogs.

1. Truck Drivers

With a whopping 340 out of every 100,000 truck drivers being killed in one way or another every year, it is by far at the top of the list of top ten most dangerous jobs in the world. There are many variations of trucks out there that carry almost anything you can think of from livestock to chemicals to actual fire starting agents, and there are even more types of truck drivers out there. Ice road truckers are extremely brave and are constantly in danger of sliding off the road into icy water or breaking through the sometimes perilously thin sheets of ice that they must cross to deliver their loads. Chemical drivers are in constant danger of getting into a wreck and bursting into instantaneous flames.

If you think you are stressed out doing your job, think about how these hardworking people across the globe must feel doing their everyday thing in such scary situations!