Chemical hazards have killed a lot of people, Savvy. The way Union Carbide handled the fatalities from mesothelioma was disgraceful. Glad you escaped from the bad guys, though. :)
Generally speaking most jobs where one is "working the land" are immediately dangerous. Logging, mining, farming, clearing and excavating the land, even commercial fishing come to mind. Jobs in those fields can be very unforgiving of carelessness and irresponsibility with severe injury, even death, occurring suddenly and without warning. And then there's always the looming threat of melanoma, long term.
The building and construction trades can come with long-term hidden dangers like asbestos exposure (and soon to be fiberglass, I'm guessing). High-power cutting tools, fastening tools, working at heights can be immediate dangers.
Probably extended exposure to hexavalent chromic acid vapor and to x-rays from mercury vapor rectifier tubes, high-power transmitting tubes and cathode ray tubes would be on my list of personal risks that I was unknowingly (at the time) exposed to in an industrial/commercial environment. But so far no issues, and the exposures happened a LONG time ago . . .
All very good points. Thanks for taking the trouble to find so many. Considering all the answers given so far I should consider myself lucky to have made it to retiring age. :D
SavvyAnsley 