How Dangerous is Your Job

[blue tiger]

My wife was a little upset to hear that I am involved in the second deadliest job in the country. This is I think accroding to either USA Today or Yahoo I can't remember. Anyway the number one most dangerous profession is Commercial fishing. The second is aircraft pilot/flight engineer. The article I read could be wrong so don't hate on me if it's not right.

I had no idea, I'm not a pilot (or really a flight engineer) but my job requires flying in a Helicopter (as well as riding in an ambulance and/or catching the occasional fixed wing).I'm an aeromedical crew member. I don't scrape up wrecks or that type of stuff thank god. I transport strictly neonates (newborn babies) and pediatric patients. I attended an advanced traume course a few years back and the dangers of the job were talked about in the beginning of the class. The stat's at that time were 10% would be killed or suffer serious injury. I don't know what it's like these days but the way they are going down out west it's probably not much better.

All that being said I've been doing this job for a long time and love it. The pay's good and it's quite an adrenaline rush almost every day. When the pilot is on short final and say's "Your responsible for the smokestack on your side. Call it out if we get to close" It really makes you pay attention. Also getting caught out where you can see the power of a thunderstorm from the same altitude gives you newfound respect for the weather.

To be honest I imagine that my sector of aviation is less dangerous than say cropdusting/construction/electrical tower servicing etc. Our company also provides 1 million dollars of insurance if you are killed on the job. All this being said I've never felt in mortal danger on the job. Had some turbulent rides that had my backside out of the seat more than in but that's about it.

So...Is your job dangerous? Semi dangerous....boring. Sometime's mine can seem to be all three in one shift. I'm in the last hour of a 16 hour shift right now and bored to tears. Last week we were dodging storms and a few weeks before that we were mass casualty evacuating a hospital that flooded.

I also love Bacon...a real risk taker here!!

[Speeddog]

Well, working on bikes isn't the safest occupation.

I recall hearing that at one time, jockeys had the highest fatality rates.
Followed by firemen and police officers.

[Timmy Tucker]

My job is about as un-dangerous as a construction job can be. I'm a finish carpenter, so my normal exposure to danger is pretty much limited to nail guns and saws. Nail guns I don't sweat too much. I've seen a few people shot, but I'm so anal about gun safety, I think I have a better chance of hitting lotto than I do getting shot.

I've had a few close calls with the saws, but they were all 100% preventable, as I tend to rush a little too much sometimes. I've seen some pretty nasty saw accidents though. **gagging**

Hell, I've been in the trades in one form or another for 12+ years and I just hit my thumb with a hammer for the first time about 2 months ago.


Bacon and airplanes. One of those two will be the death of me. I really hope it's not the bacon.

**I just remembered that I did get electrocuted once about 10 years ago. Never wire up a hot outlet w/ a Leatherman. make the beast with two backsing brilliant.  I woke up about 5 minutes later lying in the middle of the room. **

[ROBsS4R]

I have a desk job 

Does riding everyday into work on your motorcycle count 

However I watch the Deadliest Catch every Tuesday on the Discovery Channel   

[factorPlayer]

Unfortunately yes there has been a string of very bad medical copter crashes in the last year.  Let's hope it's an anomaly. 

Sounds like you definitely have an exciting and engaging job which is not something everyone can say.  IMHO the purpose it provides makes up for the added risk. 

[slowpoke13]

mine - not very dangerous. Might get carpel tunnel. Long term - probably won't be able to have kids due to working on/around live antennas.

[NuTTs]

I've got a dangerous job that gives free life insurance to my s/o... we have terrorist threats etc. especially at larger customers such as banks and US based financial institutions.

[krolik]

The biggest risks in my job are back/joint injuries and auto accidents.  But since I'm the one in the big brown truck, I'm most likely to come out ahead in a collision.

[the_Journeyman]

I teach & drive a school bus.  Not sure where it falls into the danger category ~

JM

[Porsche Monkey]

I used to run drugs from Columbia. My legs got to tired though. Bad joke.

[Popeye the Sailor]

Not terribly dangerous 99% of the time (engineer, building satellites). It does get dangerous when we fuel the satellite, then pt it in the rocket, and then launch it. As of the time it's fueled....it's basically a bomb at that point.


One year, the rocket, rather than going up, took a 90 degree turn and crashed into the town the launch crew was staying at. Not good.

[somegirl]

I work with a fair amount of carcinogenic, toxic, teratogenic, radioactive and biohazardous materials.

I also have some risk from traveling a lot.  I think the total radiation I have been exposed to while flying far exceeds anything I've ever worked with in the lab. 

Not to mention my propensity for exploring the "interesting" areas around the locations I am visiting, such as the time I got screamed at in Korean by a heavily-armed N. Korean soldier while I was wandering around the DMZ. I also went right through the riot zones in France a few years back.

[Le Pirate]

I seem to spend alot of time waist deep in water....regardless of the weather  When the lightning strikes and thunderclaps happen right about the same time, I usually say screw it and get back in the truck. Thats about the only dangerous thing about what I do.


There are some bad chemicals I use when I'm in the lab, but I put on the gloves and the lab coat....etc, etc. It's not anything I worry about

[cyrus buelton]

2006 Labor Bureau Statistics:



Fishers and related fishing workers
Fatality rate (per 100,000 workers): 141.7
Number of fatalities: 51
Average salary: $19,104

Aircraft pilots and flight engineers
Fatality rate (per 100,000 workers): 87.8
Number of fatalities: 101
Average salary: $129,250

Logging workers
Fatality rate (per 100,000 workers): 82.1
Number of fatalities: 64
Average salary: $22,320

Structural iron and steel workers
Fatality rate (per 100,000 workers): 61.0
Number of fatalities: 36
Average salary: $39,168

Refuse and recyclable material collectors
Fatality rate (per 100,000 workers): 41.8
Number of fatalities: 38
Average salary: $23,770

Farmers and ranchers
Fatality rate (per 100,000 workers): 37.1
Number of fatalities: 291
Average salary: $15,603

Electrical power-line installers and repairers
Fatality rate (per 100,000 workers): 34.9
Number of fatalities: 38
Average salary: $45,331

Roofers
Fatality rate (per 100,000 workers): 33.9
Number of fatalities: 82
Average salary: $28,474

Driver/sales workers and truck drivers
Fatality rate (per 100,000 workers): 27.1
Number of fatalities: 940
Average salary: $30,931 (for heavy or tractor-trailer drivers)

Miscellaneous agricultural workers
Fatality rate (per 100,000 workers): 21.7
Number of fatalities: 158
Average salary: $24,140

[slowpoke13]

I wonder where the military ranks in that list.