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Discussion » Questions » Life and Society » What are the most dangerous jobs? Or, what is the most dangerous situation you've found yourself in at work?

What are the most dangerous jobs? Or, what is the most dangerous situation you've found yourself in at work?

Posted - January 9, 2017

Responses


  • Working on a crane barge. 
      January 9, 2017 3:17 PM MST
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  • That could be dodgy, especially in bad weather. 
      January 9, 2017 3:21 PM MST
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  • Bad weather,  rough water, hitting shoals, falling overboard,fire,  cable snapping sending the boom into freefall,   unbalanced load causing listing.
    There's a lot that can turn tragic if you aren't paying attention. Or if someone else wasn't. 
    It's kinda fun too though.
      January 9, 2017 3:29 PM MST
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  • You're clearly speaking from experience. It's not a job I'd have thought of. 
      January 9, 2017 3:51 PM MST
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  • 11101
    I used to work in a Nicole mine as a chute blaster - it was kind of dangerous but what made it really dangerous is there was an unwritten rule that if you what to get the job done and make lots of bonus you don't follow the safety rules or regulations - almost killed myself a few times. Cheers!
      January 9, 2017 3:50 PM MST
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  • I can imagine. Glad you made it. :) 
      January 9, 2017 3:52 PM MST
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  • 5354
    It was on the first job I ever had, at a plant making concrete shapes (drainpipes, flagstones, etc).

    I got assigned to a new team manning a huge contraption with a mixer on top feeding the forms via a short funnel. We made kinda zig-zag bricks that interlocked a bit to stay stable on a driveway or whatever. see pic below:

    And every day after work we cleaned the mixer and funnel and where ever else some cement might set and become a nuisance. My job then was to crawl into the mixer with a hose and wash it (I was still pretty small at that time), a fixed cylinder with arms spinning around inside to mix things up and the funnel (with a sliding top) on the bottom.
    Then one day, as I sat there hosing away the team foreman started the mixer by mistake, 2 seconds to mixed JakobA! I moved so fast i dont even know how and got out of the mixer before any of the mixing arms hit me. Then I yelled at the foreman very loud and he got very pale.
    After that we got a rule that whoever cleaned the mixer should have the starting key in his pocket before going in.
      January 9, 2017 4:31 PM MST
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  • I'm not kidding, my flesh crawled as I read that. Thank goodness for your great reflexes. Glad you made it. 
      January 9, 2017 4:41 PM MST
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  • Law enforcement. Mostly routine, but occasionally you have to deal with crazies like this:
      January 9, 2017 4:43 PM MST
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  • You have my respect, Talan. We don't give enough credit to the people who stand for us. Thanks for the job you do. 
      January 10, 2017 2:03 PM MST
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  • Apologies, I am not in LE nor was it my intent to give that impression. However, somewhere in that melee is a relative who was in LE at the time.
      January 10, 2017 2:21 PM MST
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  • Apology not necessary, TalanE. They're appreciated whoever they are. I've known some fine people who did that job. 
      January 10, 2017 2:42 PM MST
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  • 22891
    not having a job and being forced to live on no income, that can get dangerous
      January 9, 2017 4:56 PM MST
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  • It must be so for people living rough. It's very dangerous on the streets. 
      January 9, 2017 5:00 PM MST
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  • Meh :/ my job's kinda boring, but I go to a lot of meetings and there's always donuts and pasteries on table...So there's danger of gaining weight or getting diabetes...Or being so bored I stab my eye out with a pen... This counts , no? :)
      January 9, 2017 5:33 PM MST
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  • 34246
    I was working in a factory 16 yrs ago. I was putting the printing on a hose, I put my finger in the way and broke the tip of it. Split my finger open, I got stitches. My fingernail on my index finger is croocked to this day...
      January 9, 2017 6:21 PM MST
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  • 19937
    I have two major fears that could be encountered at work.  (1) falling out of my typing chair and breaking my neck before I retire and (2) paper cuts.  Those things make me want to go to the ER.
      January 9, 2017 7:23 PM MST
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  • Dangerous places, offices. Twenty-some years ago an acquaintance -- an aging and alcoholic driving instructor -- decided to take a course in Tarot reading. He asked if he could read my cards and warned that I was going to have an accident at the office. 

    About six weeks later I was carrying a large carton, three-quarters filled with files down a flight of steps, and tripped. I took a nose dive down the rest of the flight and the box crushed under me, breaking my fall, so I only had a few bruises. My friend was so pleased! 

    I don't know if he continued in his career of harbinger-to-the-masses.
      January 10, 2017 2:07 PM MST
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  • Actually, I once did fall out of my chair because my feet got tangled in the phone cord under the desk. My neck was okay though.
      January 10, 2017 2:16 PM MST
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  • 500
    I was a Combat Engineer for the Army. Lot of explosive work and heavy equipment.
    Probably the most dangerous was as a Public Safety Diver. Diving in the Missouri river always ran the risk of submerged debris catching you or your tether line. Diving under the ice had some risk.
      January 9, 2017 7:27 PM MST
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  • Dangerous indeed. You must have had your share of incidents. Glad you didn't run into anything too dramatic. 
      January 10, 2017 2:09 PM MST
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  • 2960
    Mostly jobs where I was left alone in a store. I guess I could have been robbed or worse, but nothing ever happened. Also, long before Uber, I delivered rental cars to people's homes. This was even before cell phones (gasp!). Someone could have easily killed me and stuffed me in their crawlspace. I worked in a storeroom for a little bit. Guess a pallette could have fallen on me. But I don't know if anything beats the soul crushing depression of having to go to dead end jobs and knowing you will fail in the end.
      January 9, 2017 7:33 PM MST
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  • Those would be risky in high-crime areas. Not for the faint hearted. I've had my share of dead-end jobs, though, and understand exactly what you mean. 
      January 10, 2017 2:11 PM MST
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  • 10052
    So many dangerous jobs! One of the worst has to be those where you're unknowingly exposed to chemicals that are silently poisoning/killing you.

    I once worked for some very sketchy "businessmen" and became sincerely concerned that I might get caught up in some sort of criminal investigation. I got the hell outta there!
      January 9, 2017 7:54 PM MST
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