Some jobs can kill. Over time is tough and malfunctioning office equipment is a pain. Inept coworkers slow everything down. These things wear on a person, but they won?t kill anyone.
When most people punch their time cards in the morning, they do so with the knowledge that they?ll be punching out in the afternoon. Not everyone is so lucky.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics puts out an annual list of the ten most dangerous jobs as measured by fatalities; but often, like other statistics, you don?t get the complete picture. And as you?ll see here, it?s not even close. Its focus is too narrow, ignoring too many dangers that are not considered, like severe injuries or long-term health effects. The BLS list also ignores professions not visible on their official radar screen.

When we talk about dangerous jobs, we?re not talking paper cuts, carpal tunnel syndrome, a boss that gives you headaches or a workplace with lousy coffee that puts a bad taste in your mouth. We?re talking jobs that incapacitate and kill; or where the risk of serious injury is omnipresent. In many of these jobs, your life might be fundamentally changed at any moment?for the worse. In others, the danger is  long term and cumulative. It won?t get you now, but it will get you later.

In Player?s extensive survey, we present you with the real list of America?s toughest jobs. For some, like cops and firefighters, the work is more dangerous in urban areas; and we specify that kind of environment in our listings. But interestingly, workers who made their money in nature, such as loggers and fishermen, were more likely to die on the job than the aforementioned urban heroes.

The final list of the 25 most dangerous jobs in America was surprising even to us. We ranked the professions using a sophisticated weighting system that balanced fatality rate, short-term injury rate, long-term danger  (disease and incapacitation), and the overall “fear factor” of the work. We balanced official with anecdotal evidence to come up with the Player list.  Just how dangerous are the professions on the list? Put it this way: When a soldier in a war can?t even crack the top three?or a fireman, the top seven?that gives you a sense of just how dangerous the jobs on this list are. Here?s our list: Player?s 25 most  dangerous jobs in America.

25. Smokejumper
They jump out of planes toward fire. Lucky for them, they don?t land in the conflagration. Unlucky for them, they sometimes crash into trees. If they get seriously hurt in the process, they?re helpless until the ground crews arrive?much later. Heavily padded suits help shield smokejumpers against trees? spearing arms. But what happens when man meets tree? Advantage: tree.

The Mann Gulch Fire of 1949 was the largest disaster involving smokejumper deaths ever. A team arrived in Montana?s Helena National Forest to fight a wildfire. While they headed toward the Missouri River, the blaze spread quickly and cut off the path to safety. The foreman survived by lighting an escape fire into which he tried to move his crew, and two others were able to seek safety in a  rock crevice. Thirteen smokejumpers were killed by the blaze. There have been no smoke jumping deaths since that event, but jumping into large fires with little hope of rescue if things get dicey gets brownie points for danger.

Danger Factor: Jumping into massive fires, but no deaths in 57 years mitigates the risk.
Pay Scale: Pay is minimal; you do it for the adventure and to save trees and people.
Perks: Thrill seekers who love fresh air (at least until the air is thick with smoke) get plenty of both.
Profile: Adventure seekers with a cause.

24. Atomic Power and Chemical Plant Worker
Nuclear contamination is scary. You?ve heard about the horrors suffered by the Japanese in Hiroshima and Nagasaki from the dropping of the atomic bomb. On April 26, 1986, history?s worst nuclear accident occurred in Chernobyl, Ukraine, when a nuclear reactor blew up, officially contaminating five million people. The  radiation spread to Belarus and Russia. Anywhere from 100,000 to 500,000 deaths (depending upon the information source cited) have already been attributed to this catastrophe. Add in rampant  mutations, cancer and other horrors claiming lives at an astronomical rate, and you get a glimpse into the nightmare possible from a nuclear accident.

Now, adding to that fear, imagine working around noxious or radioactive elements all day long, every day. We can?t help think that?s pretty bad, regardless of what the company says or the government claims. There are too many examples in the past where,  badly paraphrasing a court?s instructions to the witness: we didn?t get the truth, we didn?t get the whole truth and we got nothing near the  truth.

The bosses say it?s safe? The government gives its okay? Sorry, partner, if you believe that, you must have been born yesterday. The hard truth is that when it comes to money, the people at the top?  hether it?s business or government?couldn?t give a rat?s ass about your health or whether you live or die. Or become diseased and suffer. It?s all about the money.  Exposure to an atomic plant or toxic fumes can?t be good. In fact,  it won?t be good. Cancer and disease in their many horrific forms might be the result.

Danger Factor: Short term, birth defects are possible. Long term, the horrors are real.
Pay Scale: You probably get a decent salary, but?
Perks: Whatever you get, enjoy.
Profile: It?s a job.

23. TollBooth worker
Being a tollbooth operator is dangerous? Hell, yes. You won?t see these workers on any other list of dangerous occupations, but think about this scenario: As part of a paid experiment, you?re asked to have your breathing supply directly connected to a car?s exhaust pipe.  A company wants to find out if this will increase the likelihood that you?ll get various illnesses like cancer, emphysema and respiratory problems. The test time is one week, but the company warns you: It?s  a very risky experiment?you may well contract these maladies and more.

Would you voluntarily do it? We wouldn?t. So what?s the connection? Tollbooth operators are not hooked up to an exhaust pipe of a car, but what they do is pretty damn close. The majority of the air in their  booth is exhaust from cars. Or worse, it?s diesel exhaust from trucks. Every time a vehicle pulls out, a trail of noxious, carcinogenic smoke is left behind. Invariably, a portion  of it goes into their lungs. Can you imagine the air quality in and around those tollbooths, where their heads reside? Don?t try to.  Tollbooth operators spend all day trapped in a little box, breathing in fumes from the huffing and puffing of surrounding vehicles. Given  enough years of this, they?ll be huffing and puffing trying to get air into their own systems. No job?not even a traffic cop?s or gas station attendant?s workplace?is exposed to  as many automotive exhaust fumes, and ultimately, as many carcinogens, as a toll-booth operator. Bottom line: This is no week-long experiment. This is your life.  Sorry, Doubting Thomases?this job is dangerous.

Danger Factor: You?re sucking in carcinogens.
Pay Scale: It?s a living, no more.
Perks: None.
Profile: Regular people trying to get by.

22. Microchip Manufacturer
The process of making microchips requires exposure to arsenic, ethylene-based glycol ethers, various acids, phosphine and scores of other chemically hazardous substances. The Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition, an environmental watchdog, says that there is only sufficient data on about 2% of the chemicals used in the manufacture  of chips. The other 98 percent? All we can say is: Lord have mercy. What?s the payoff to exposure from toxic chemicals? High miscarriage rate, deformed babies, cancer, respiratory and skin  problems?you get the idea. But if you don?t, think about these two incidents, also involving various chemicals and effluents. In 1985 the dangerous dioxin levels  of Times Beach, Missouri, 17 miles southwest of St. Louis, caused the government to buy out this town of 2,240 residents for $32 million; everyone was evacuated and the area quarantined. Want more? In Love Canal, New York, an extremely high rate of cancer, birth defects and constantly sick children led to an environmental investigation.

The residents suspected that the industrial dump used by the Hooker Chemical Company was the cause, and indeed, the residents were correct. In 1980 President Carter declared a state of emergency and evacuated the town. Moral of the story: Anytime you?re exposed to toxic chemicals, it ain?t good.

Danger Factor: Short term: birth defects. Long term: horrible diseases.
Pay Scale: Decent for unskilled manual labor.
Perks: You get a paycheck.
Profile: Tedious, repetitive work. It?s a job.

21. Bounty Hunter
Bail enforcement agents must chase violent criminals for sheer pleasure. They sure as hell don?t do it for the pay, which is about $150 for the average fugitive. They typically earn their fee by getting a percentage of the bail-jumper?s bond; the higher that bond,  presumably, the more dangerous the customer, the more a bounty hunter earns his pay. In many states, bounty hunters are forbidden to carry  firearms, and therefore find themselves potentially outgunned (if they?re following  the rules) by the bail-jumpers they?re paid to capture. They?re given greater legal freedom in capturing fugitives including,  sometimes, using excessive force. Bounty hunters are allowed to break and enter without a warrant, detain suspects, and chase them across the country  (except for three states, which have disallowed this profession). The most famous bail enforcement agent is Duane “Dog”  Chapman, star of Dog the Bounty Hunter, a reality show about Mr. Chapman?s exploits. His most notorious case was the apprehension  of rapist Andrew Luster, heir to the Max Factor fortune, in Mexico. Bounty hunting is illegal there, and after capturing the American fugitive, Chapman was accused of kidnapping by the Mexican  government. Later, he was accused of being a fugitive himself when he returned to the United States!

Domino Harvey, renowned for being a fashion model and at the  same time a bail enforcement agent, used her feminine wiles as a weapon to help her capture drug dealers and the occasional murderer in South Central L.A. When her beauty didn?t work, she had Betsy?that was the name of her sawed-off shotgun. There are no figures on just how dangerous bounty hunting is, but when you?re chasing violent law breakers who don?t want to get caught, the ante on safety is heightened. And keep this in mind on the danger factor: Bounty hunters have no formal training for their jobs. 

Danger Factor: You?re trying to bring in criminals; this can?t be that safe.
Pay Scale: Pay isn?t typically that much, though bigger fish (with bigger risk) get bigger rewards.
Perks: The thrill of the chase.
Profile: Tough nuts making a tough living.

20. War Correspondent
Kidnapping, torture, crippling injuries and death are all a real part of  what can happen to you. Want to apply? Oh, and you?re in the middle of a war zone where Americans are hated. Still interested? The job: War correspondent. You can do the reporting, or if you like  more danger, how about some on-the-job photos? In either case, your job is to get in the middle of the action and get the live scoop.  You?re a correspondent, but you think the enemy knows the difference? If they don?t, you?re a target and you?re in trouble. If they do, it may work for you, but then again it may not. In 2002, Daniel Pearl, a  Wall Street Journal correspondent, was kidnapped in Karachi, Pakistan and killed. And in 2003 in Iraq, Time magazine reporter Michael Weisskopf lost his right hand to a grenade tossed into a patrol  vehicle. Since March 2003, two American correspondents have been killed in  Iraq. Considering the paucity of reporters there, it?s a very high fatality rate.

Explosives make no distinctions betweens soldiers and correspondents. And opposing soldiers, frankly, do not care. Bottom line: When your job takes you into a war zone, that?s flirting with trouble. And it gets you on this list.

Danger Factor: Extreme.
Pay Scale: Decent to good; you?re hoping you get a chance to cash the check.
Perks: Excitement, being in the middle of the action, good career move?if you make it.
Profile: You have to be intrepid, love danger, action and getting the news story firsthand.
 

19. Iron AND Steel Worker
Construction workers, particularly ones that work on high elevations like skyscrapers, face all sorts of serious injuries, and possible death in their pursuit of a living. Despite harnesses and other safety gear, falling long distances off tall buildings occurs. There is a reason that the prices to insure high-altitude construction workers are among the highest of all workers.  With a death rate of 47 per 100,000 in 2004 and 56 per 100,000 in 2005, as measured by the BLS, structural iron and steel workers ranked  fourth on their list of most lethal jobs. It?s scary up high, especially if the weather isn?t good. Things happen. This job is dangerous. If you don?t think so, go up there yourself and try it out. We thought so?

Danger Factor: One slip of the foot.
Pay Scale: Generally good.
Perks: Good views, you get to wear a hard hat.
Profile: Tough, fearless dudes.

18. Maximum Security Prison Guard
Every working moment you are exposed to dangerous, ruthless criminals. Your job is to guard and control the most violent elements of America?rapists, murderers, sadists, serial killers, gang members? en who are lifers in the system with little left to lose and little regard for  human life. They hate you for what you represent and who you are. If you show mercy, they won?t?you?ll be seen as weak. If you show no mercy, they?ll wait for their opportunity to get even. It may never come, but then again, it might. 

Yes, the guards have clubs. Yes, they?re outside the bars. But even if they?re extremely careful, things still happen. In 1971, a riot at Attica claimed the lives of 11 guards, 32 inmates, and caused serious injury to 89 others (four of them guards). In 1980, at New Mexico State Prison, seven guards were beaten, stabbed, burned or raped. Somehow they all lived. Thirty-three prisoners, however, did not. These are just the big incidents that get national attention. In maximum security, every day is an adventure you won?t hear about on the news. Danger is always one angry con away. The numbers work against you. There are guard shortages in correctional facilities across America. How about a proportion of 15 guards to 1,136 inmates? These were the numbers in New Mexico State Prison when all hell broke loose.
In addition to the physical danger, add in high rates of alcoholism and smoking among guards due to the daily stress, and you have a job that  clearly cuts the mustard as one of the most dangerous jobs in America.

Danger Factor: High. How would like to be Hannibal Lecter?s guard?
Pay Scale: Hard, stressful work for not much money.
Perks: Weekly check; outlet for sadists who like beating on people. Get to go home every night.
Profile: Guys tough enough to deal with the most dangerous criminals.

17. Alaskan Bush Pilot
Flying small planes is not necessarily dangerous. But when you?re flying in an environment where the clear sky precipitously turns into clouds and visibility drops to almost nothing without warning, the scenario of plane meeting- mountain occurs far too often. When you can?t see well, fatal crash landings into objects like trees or a suddenly rising ground take their toll. Hopefully, when the plane stops, your life doesn?t.  As measured by the BLS, this is one of the most dangerous jobs. We agree.

Danger Factor: Usually when you go down, your flight?s over. Permanently. The risk here is all about the death rate, which is high.
Pay Scale: You get less than regular commercial pilots for far more risk; many average $50,000 per year.
Perk: Enjoy beautiful scenery, lots of adventure and thrills, interesting clients.
Profile: Outdoor eccentric types that like adventure and bush country.

16. U. S. President
You?re the leader of the most powerful nation in the world and  make decisions that may not be popular. As the highest-profile person in the highest-profile country, you are a target for political assassins, madmen, and malcontents. And a select few among them take an extreme step: They attempt to end your life.

The president of the United States is an extremely perilous job, more so than you might expect. Let?s look at the numbers. Four presidents were assassinated: Abraham Lincoln in 1865, James Garfield in 1881, William McKinley in 1901, and John Kennedy  in 1963. In addition, there were near-fatal attempts on six other presidents: Andrew Jackson in 1835, Teddy Roosevelt in 1912,  Franklin Roosevelt in 1933 (as president-elect), Harry Truman in 1950, Gerald Ford in 1975, and Ronald Reagan in 1981. Do the math. There have been forty-three U. S. presidents and ten  of them have been attacked. Four succeeded in killing their targeted leader, and two others in injuring him. In addition, there were other attempts that were foiled before the perpetrators got close enough for “near-miss” status. These ten attempts are only the highly publicized ones we know about.

But let?s stick with the ten listed. These widely known assassination attempts occurred on nearly one out of four presidents, a 23 percent rate, with a mortality rate of almost 10 percent. Wow. That?s dangerous. High-profile political leaders are also exposed to assassination and qualify. Examples: Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X and Robert Kennedy.

Danger Factor: Extremely high.
Pay Scale: Great pay, nice house.
Perks: Good use of willing interns.
Profile: You?re the man.

15. Offshore Oil Rigger
You?re playing with one of the most combustible materials in the world: oil. While the level of danger depends heavily on the location of the rig?a big floating man-made island?every rigger  is in constant peril of explosions, drowning, accidents from heavy equipment, and kidnapping (not an uncommon occurrence). Riggers often work 16-hour shifts through the middle of the night,  sometimes going as long as a day or two without sleep. If one worker in a team loses concentration, he is a danger to himself and his coworkers.  With so many moving parts in the engines, clothes, fingers, arms and sometimes entire lives can be sucked into the machines. While deep gashes and serious injuries are common, fires and explosions are a rigger?s greatest fears.

The biggest danger of them all, a blowout, can be caused by something as simple as a spark from a dropped tool, but whatever ignites the highly flammable oil, the result can be a catastrophic  explosion. In 2001 off the coast of Brazil, three explosions killed ten workers on the largest offshore oil rig in the world.  If the seas, machinery and the explosions don?t get you, the terrorists might. In June of 2006, eight oil rig workers?one of them  an American?were abducted from a rig off the coast of Nigeria. They lived through the ordeal, but that?s not always the case.

Danger Factor: A lot of pressure, a lot of flammable substances, a lot of risk. Yeah, this is dangerous.
Pay Scale: Commensurate with risk?good.
Perks: If you like water, plenty to look at.
Profile: Riggers are a tough breed.

14. Urban Cop
Okay, enough with the jokes about the donuts and coffee. Being a cop, particularly an undercover, narcotics or vice cop in a U.S.  urban city, is really dangerous. You?re dealing with gangs, criminals and  drug dealers who will risk everything to protect their turf and their freedom. And they won?t necessarily mind taking your life to preserve their own.

Interestingly, more cops died from traffic accidents and other incidents (81) in 2005 than were murdered on the job. Their 50  violent fatalities, however, are surprisingly few given what you would expect in  America, where metropolitan cities are infested with violence. However, danger is omnipresent when your beat is the ?hood. If you happen to be in the narcotics division, where your  job is to “buy and bust”?that is, go into a setup without a shield,  gun or bulletproof vest?the risk is extremely high. Ditto for bomb squads. Adding to the danger are one-of-a-kind emergencies that can take lives. For  example, in 2001, 23 police officers perished in one fell swoop as a result of the 9/11 terrorist attack in New York City.

Being a policeman didn?t even make the 2005 BLS list showing  the top 10 most fatal jobs. But that statistic doesn?t alter what everyone already knows: Being a cop is dangerous. And its not just death and injury that hangs over a law enforcement officer, the  tremendous strain of the job contributes to a high rate of alcoholism, drug use, stress-related problems and abnormally high divorce rates.

Danger Factor: High.
Pay Scale: You?re a working man and you earn every penny of what you get.
Perks: Lots of time for donuts and coffee (okay, we couldn?t help it). Good benefits and life insurance?hopefully you won?t need it.
Profile: You have to be a dedicated public servant and either love danger or not be too afraid of it.

13. Professional Fighter
Your job is to hurt your opponent so badly he can?t get up again. The problem: his job is to do the same  to you. Often, to some degree, both sides are effective. And sometimes the hurt is so bad that the fighter dies.  Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the world of professional fighters. Badly bruised faces, bodies and egos are a frequent occurrence, while broken ribs and  jaws make their share of appearances as well. These are the instant forms of injury. A more pernicious  one, which can occur over a longer period of time (and could come as a result of one powerful blow) is dementia pugilista, or as it?s known in the industry,  punch-drunk disease. A fighter gets hit so many times in the head over a career that his brain turns to jelly, causing involuntary shaking, slurred speech, memory loss, paranoia, and  a general decrease in awareness. A 1993 study by the American Journal of Sports Medicine concluded that punch-drunk disease affects anywhere from 9 to 25 percent of all professional boxers, a pretty  damning conclusion. Getting hit in the head is not healthy. A causal relationship between repeated blows to the head and degenerative brain diseases like Alzheimer?s  and Parkinson?s is generally accepted as fact by doctors. Muhammad Ali, a legendary heavyweight champion, was famous for his speed and agility. However, one of his less heralded qualities was that  he could take a punch. It may have worked to his disadvantage. Three brutal wars with Joe Frazier and another punishing day with Larry Holmes accumulated damage. Today, Ali moves as if he was underwater. Other great fighters, like Sugar Ray Robinson and Joe Louis, literally had the  sense beat out of them.

A study originally undertaken by Manuel Vasquez and updated by Joseph Svinth charted 640 boxing deaths in the United States from January 1920 to April 2006. Even champions can go down hard. On September 17, 2005, Leavander Johnson, defending his IBF lightweight championship, dropped in the eleventh round and died five days later. But that?s just fatalities. Other studies found that one of the  fighters in nearly 25 percent of boxing matches (actually, one in eight fighters) got injured. This category is not just reserved for boxers; the more brutal, less-holds barred forms of professional street fighting, like the Ultimate Fighting Championship, are even more savage and its participants even more prone to injury.

Danger Factor: Very high. When you?re getting your brains beat in by a professional trained to hurt, something bad is bound to happen.
Pay Scale: Top level fighters make a fortune; the rest eke out a living.
Perks: The ultimate thrill of sports.
Profile: The toughest guys in the roughest sport.

12. NFL Pro Football Player
Football makes our list of the most dangerous jobs not because of on-the-job fatality rates?it?s rare to hear of a pro football player dying?but because of the extremely high injury rate. When you have some of the biggest, strongest and fastest men on the planet  hammering you with the full force of their prodigious bulk, the spindly legs underneath the massive upper frame take terrible punishment, especially  if that?s the part of the body receiving the brunt of the impact.

Did you ever see a retired NFL player play tennis, jog or do other athletic activities? That won?t occur too often, because by the time their careers have ended, their knees, ankles, hips and various other skeletal structures have gone through so many reparative surgeries, that there is little, if any, of the original cartilage left. In other words, they?re near-cripples who barely hobble along, a far cry from the grace  and power they displayed in their heyday. By the time these players are 50, they can barely even walk.

And there are other debilitating hurts?concussions (sometimes multiple ones) and spinal-cord injuries that leave players permanently disabled. There are also dislocated shoulders, broken ribs, and the pernicious effects of performance-enhancing drugs. Brooklyn-born Lyle Alzado was one such example: He developed brain cancer as a  result of steroid use, dying not long after his diagnosis. But deaths on the field are rare. One exception was Minnesota  Viking Korey Stringer, who on the second day of pre-season practice in July 2001, died from heatstroke. He was the only player to suffer this fate in the history of the NFL. And death from violent impact during an NFL game? Never happened.

But injuries? Big time. A 1994 Ball State University survey showed that 65 percent of NFL players who retired before the 1990s suffered an injury serious enough to require surgery, or to take them out of action for extended periods of time. Those are just the body blows; NFL players take a lot of shots to the head as well. A 2000 abstract presented to the American Academy of Neurology showed that 60 percent of former NFL players got concussions, with 26 percent of all players suffering more than one. These brain-jarring injuries will most likely lead to headaches and memory problems for the rest of their lives. When you have a job where it?s estimated that half your fellow workers retire because of injury, that says a lot. Is playing the NFL a killer job? We?d say so.

Danger Factor: The high injury rate puts a pro football player ahead of more lethal jobs, but lacking the fatality risk, not quite in the top ten. On balance, it?s on the list; it?s dangerous.
Pay Scale: Stars can make $10 million a year and up; lesser players still make bank.
Perks: Insane amounts of money, adulation, fame and all the sexy trappings of being a star. Also, it?s a sport?players live for the competition.
Profile: Big, strong, quick and talented athletes competing at the highest level.

11. Logger
You?re operating heavy electric saws, often working many stories above ground and massive trees are collapsing around you? sometimes, on top of you. In 2002, the BLS reported 104 deaths from logging, making it the highest on-the-job mortality rate per 100,000 workers (117.8 per 100,000) on their list. That?s a staggering number of fatalities for the  industry, making these workers 30 times more likely to die on the job than the average American worker for that year. In 2005 that rate was 92.9 per 100,000, dropping to second place below fishing-related  jobs, but not disguising the fact that this remains very dangerous work.

Most of the fatalities were due to death by falling trees, but when you?re operating heavy mechanized saws, all sorts of other bad things can occur.  When you hear the call of timber! you better hope the tree is falling where it?s supposed to, and not on you. Whether # 1 or #2 on the yearly BLS fatality stats, the fact remains: lumberjacking is extremely dangerous.

Danger Factor: Extremely high. Traditionally ranks #1 or #2 on the list of most lethal jobs compiled by the BLS.
Pay Scale: Good.
Perks: Lots of fresh air.
Profile: Lumberjacks are a hardy breed.

10. Urban Firefighter
What do you say about guys who do the opposite of what everybody else does in times of danger? While we?re fleeing for our lives from an out-of-control blaze or similar emergency, firemen run  into the hell storm. Is this crazy or brave? Maybe both. Whatever the case, a firemen?s job is insanely risky. Every day they put their lives on the line. And any day can be their last.  Firefighters risk loss of life, smoke inhalation, terrible burns, crippling injuries when buildings collapse on them, poisoning and lung damage from inhalation of toxic materials, and extreme mental duress from the pressures of the job.

Entering burning buildings and rescuing trapped people is just part of the job. They also respond to a host of other types of calls, some of which are easy?like rescuing cats from tree branches?  and some are not. In the most deadly disaster to ever hit a fire department, 343 firemen, including entire departments, lost their  lives responding to the 2001 World Trade Center crisis. Firemen may sit around watching TV and pumping iron during  slow periods, but never take it away from these boys. When the alarm sounds, they put it all on the line for the rest of us.  You play with fire, you?re going to get burned.

Danger Factor: Any day can be a day you never forget?or never remember again.
Pay Scale: A working man?s wage.
Perks: There?s lots of downtime between calls.
Profile: Brave, crazy, or both.

9. Coal Miner
Some wake up and spit out black liquid. Coughing, breathlessness, extreme fatigue to the point that it?s an effort to even cross a room, are all side effects. In 1831, a name was put to these symptoms: black lung disease. That?s what coal miners have had to endure trying to  support their families. The Appalachian coal miners, it was said, were digging their own grave. And it was not far from the truth. Black lung  disease is caused by the prolonged inhalation of coal dust, an occupational hazard of coal miners. In 1969, the U.S. Congress finally weighed in on the health risks of coal miners and  ordered measures to increase safety, steps that were subsequently  made more lax in 1973. In 1994, a new U.S. Department of Labor rule for protecting miners from excessive dust was put into place. But still, the specter of  black lung disease hangs over every coal miner who breathes in this lethal dust almost every second of his working day.

There is no cure for this disease, and though not every miner gets black lung, enough did in coal?s dark days that even today, thousands die every year from accumulated damage. That is the slow and  painful death. There is the quicker way, too. Collapsed shafts bury miners alive. The worst mining disaster in  American history took place on December 6, 1907 in Monogah, West Virginia. An explosion caused by the ignition of methane gas, which in turn ignited the mine?s coal dust, shattered two mine shafts. A total of 362 men lost their lives. More recently, on January 2, 2006 a pocket of gas exploded in a coal minein Sago, West Virginia, trapping a group of thirteen miners for almost two days. Only one of them, miraculously, survived.

But that?s not all a coal miner has to deal with. There is also exposure to poisonous and explosive gases, cave-ins, floods,  malfunctioning mine equipment and heavy falling objects, all of which can maim or  kill. From 1991-1999, an average of 21,351 coal miners per year were injured in accidents. An average of 93 people per year died during the same interval. It got worse after the  millennium. The BLS reported 159 deaths in the mining sector for 2005, up from 141 in 2003 and 152 in 2004.  Coal mining is one of the toughest?and most dangerous?jobs in America.

Danger Factor: High.
Pay Scale: For the work, not enough pay.
Perks: It?s a job. Often, there?s no other decent choice.
Profile: Workers are tough. They have to be?it?s one of the hardest ways to make a living.

8. Urban Street Prostitute
Your pimp is vicious and keeps you in line with regular beatings. Your johns can end up being serial killers, making you one more “quiet” stat in a police blotter. Your customers can infect you with every  sexually transmitted disease available, not the least of which is AIDS. Drinking, drugs and the trappings of poverty often go hand in hand with the profession,  leaving prostitutes multiple ways to find unhappy endings. And whatever money you make, you may end up giving it to your pimp or your drug habit?a temporary salve to a hard life on the streets.

Sound appealing? I didn?t think so. But this is the life of an urban street prostitute. It is impossible to quantify the fatality and injury rate of this profession, but given short-term dangers, long-term risks andthe daily punishing stress of plying your trade in the street, you  have to give the gals and guys that work these hard streets credit for a tough but sad gig.

Danger Factor: High; even greater for crack whores.
Pay Scale: A lot of danger and hard work for not too much money.
Perks: Lots of sex, but not the right kind.
Profile: People from a school of hard knocks and bad breaks.

7. Bull Rider
“It?s not if you get injured, but when,” one cowboy told us. Bull riding, rodeo?s most dangerous event and America?s first extreme sport, is the ultimate test of courage for cowboys. Commentators like to call  bull riding the most dangerous eight seconds in sports. That?s the minimum time a professional bull rider, using only one hand to grip his rope, must cling to a bull to have completed what?s considered a  successful ride?assuming the angry animal doesn?t first dislodge the rider with a vicious jolt.

The violent shaking pounding while on top of a bull and the crash landing that greets the dislodged passenger wreaks havoc on a human body that was not built for this kind of abuse. And should the fallen  rider be unlucky enough to find the roles reversed, with the bull on top and the cowboy underneath, the damage is immediate  and catastrophic. This was the fate of world champion bull rider Lane Frost. After finishing a successful ride, his bull, Taking Care of Business, battered him in the side, shattering his ribs and tearing  open an artery. Frost died on the ground.

Cowboys risk riding bulls like Bodacious, who was retired in his prime because of his proficiency for breaking men. In 1994, it was dealing Terry Don West a life-threatening injury; in 1995 it was  Scott Breding, and then Tuff Hedeman.

The only armor cowboys wear is a protective vest that lessens the force of impact. They also wear a cowboy hat, but that can?t be trusted to ward off even a heavy rain. The bull rider?s only real defense is  the rodeo clown, who is the most important person alive to him. The rodeo clown?s job is to distract the bull; that is, induce  the bull to charge him instead, at least until the cowboy can scamper to safety. The clowns even manage to keep their smiles as the bulls  attempt to gore them. But maybe that?s because their grins are painted on. Deaths don?t come often at the rodeo, only one or two riders die per year; but that is a lot given the relatively small number of  participants. Ultimately this tough job makes the list for the severe pounding men take riding 1,500-pound angry behemoths and for their injuries from being  tossed and trampled. Along with bull riders, rodeo clowns get a big nod in this killer job category.

Danger Factor: Very high. Death, serious injury, chronic injury?bull riding has it all.
Pay: The Professional Bull Riders association, created in 1992, awards more than $95 million in prize money. Top riders have earned over $3 million dollars, not including endorsements.
Perks: Tremendous thrill; it?s what cowboys do. As one cowboy said, “I live for those eight seconds.”
Profile: Y?all gotta be some tough chili-eatin? cowboys to ride bulls.

6. Alaskan Crab Fisherman
In 2005, the BLS ranked fishing as the most fatality-ridden job, with 118.4 fatalities per 100,000, almost 30 times the rate of the average worker. But those statistics are for fishing in general, not for Alaskan crab fishing, which is infinitely more dangerous?about 400  fatalities per 100,000. The danger is threefold: the Alaskan fishermen work in hellacious weather that can toss them overboard to their death; the fishing boats take on so much weight from the 750 pound fishing traps  that they become unstable and prone to capsizing; and the injuries they sustain from working with heavy machinery and gear can be crippling.  Crab fishermen ply their trade in some of the worst and most treacherous conditions on earth: subzero temperatures, frigid gale-force winds, tumultuous seas with 40-foot swells, and ice that can build up so  thick it sometimes capsizes the boat. To maximize the yield for a season that lasts only three or four weeks (sometimes two months), crabbers squeeze every possible human hour into their  workday, working as much as 22-hour days in extreme conditions?they fear that while they?re sleeping, someone else is pulling in that catch. This mad dash through the season  magnifies the risks even more; many crabbers take to using cocaine to stay awake for this marathon.  It?s not uncommon for one of the half-ton or heavier crab traps, called “pots,” and maneuvered by hydraulic cranes, to smash into a fisherman. That?s what happened to Vernon Rosendahl in the 2003 season when he  was knocked overboard. One of his crewmates donned a thick, insulatedsurvival suit and jumped in to save him. Both men disappeared for a time, so a third crewmember hopped overboard. Everyone was back on deck a few minutes later, but Rosendahl?s 20 minutes of exposure in the frighteningly cold water was too long to recover from. He died on board. In the 1995 season, the Northwest Mariner sank hours after leaving dock in vicious storms. Only two of the six bodies were recovered?they  were found dead of hypothermia, floating in a lifeboat. Almost everyone who crabs gets injured at some point during the season, and there?s always a chance that a giant wave or a gust of icy air will knock them into the water where there?s little chance of rescue. Dangerous work? Unbelievably so.

Danger Factor: Very high. When you go for a swim, they rarely find you.
Pay Scale: Crabbers can make $15,000 to as much as $80,000.
Perks: What?s not to like? Spend one or two months working, ten or eleven months vacationing. This is a great ratio in anyone?s book.
Profile: You have to be fearless and motivated.

5. Soldier In Battle
If you?re in the live theater of combat, death is all around. Your ticket can get punched from all sorts of projectiles?bullets, bombs, missiles?or you can get maimed. Landmines, booby traps, snipers are only some of the  ways you can meet disaster and none of them are pretty. Usually, you never see it coming. It can come from friendly fire or those who may or may not be friendlies. In Iraq, as was often the  case in Vietnam, the front line is not necessarily on a traditional battlefield, but often on the street, where you don?t know who your enemy is?until it?s too late. Your government may decide to use chemical warfare (such as napalm and Agent Orange)  in complete disregard of your own well-being. Face it, you?re a pawn and you?re expendable for the greater cause.

The duress of killing and watching people get killed can get to you. If the conditions are continually savage, or you?re fighting in places where you don?t even understand why the enemy is the enemy, other things can break  you down. You can be your own worst enemy. In Vietnam, one soldier we interviewed told us that of the nine men in his patrol who died, five of  them were from overdoses.

Of course, how dangerous the soldiering is depends on how close you  are to the action and its intensity. For example, if you?re a cook in an army training center, the risk of getting burnt from inadvisably picking up a hot potato doesn?t compare with a medic who marches into fire as a  noncombatant, to save the lives of the fallen. Elite units like Delta Force, the Navy Seals, and private mercenary units all get nods for extra risk. U.N. peacekeepers, operating under Byzantine  rules, suffer the fate of being unable to defend themselves, despite being shot at. Ditto the medics?they?re not looking to kill, just to save  lives. But to the other side, they?re still the enemy.

Danger Factor: Extremely high. Danger lurks everywhere, even from friendly fire.
Pay Scale: Minimal.
Perks: Foreign travel? I guess. Learning to be a man? I guess.
Profile: Allures may be patriotism, a solid job with benefits, idealism or escape from home, a bad life or the ghetto.

4. Daredevil
Not to be confused with a movie stuntman, the daredevil, almost by definition, crosses the boundary from stunt to high risk. Daredevils include risk-taking pioneers doing death-defying feats, from tightrope walkers parading over unimaginable heights, to early aviation  pioneers, to fearless men jumping over waterfalls. For example, there was Sam Patch, who in 1829 was the first to jump from the top of Niagara Falls  into the river below?and live. A few days later, he did it a second time and survived to tell about it, for a little while at least. A short time later he died jumping the 100-foot high Upper Falls in Rochester; he dislocated both  shoulders upon impact and drowned in the river below. Many daredevils perform acts that seem more dangerous than they are? or on second thought, maybe they are as  dangerous. Take Evel Knievel. He became a huge draw in the 70s thanks to stunts that were every bit as crazy as they looked. He attempted seemingly impossible stunts on a motorcycle, like flying over the fountain at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas or over Idaho?s  Snake River Canyon. In the process, he broke dozens of bones, acquired concussions, went into comas and became a star. The real miracle was that  he survived at all. Evel?s son, Robbie Knievel, using more advanced bikes and better planning, kept his father?s daredevil tradition alive, setting 20 world records in the process.

For ultimate thrill seekers, pushing the envelope on danger is a rush of pure adrenaline they can?t seem to get enough of. The danger factor depends on the feat attempted, but we can probably all agree that daredevils flirt  with serious injury and death every time they attempt a high risk stunt.

Danger Factor: From dangerous to more dangerous.
Pay Scale: Unless you?re a great self-promoter, may not be all that much.
Perks: The thrill of danger and death.
Profile: You have to be crazy.

3. Narcotics Dealer
The world of a drug dealer is filled with violence, desperate people, and so many minefields that few dealers make it out of their profession in one piece, let alone alive. The customers who buy their products are  addicts of the worst order, prone to do anything to anyone to get their fix?one more potential danger to the hand, so to speak, that feeds them. Dealers amass power, money and influence as their business grows.

Each step toward success in their business exposes them to further hazards: competition from newer players, bigger players, overly ambitious partners or lower tier associates who think a different  configuration at the top is needed. Other hazards include the violence in the drug milieu, the law and ultimately themselves. If the dealer becomes his own customer, the accompanying megalomania, grandeur and delusional paranoia will soon level his playing field.  There are no stats to rely on, but anecdotally, the score is easy to tally. A rare few make it through their career unscathed. It?s like ordering Chinese takeout. You want A, B or C? You either get maimed,  killed or you go to prison.

Columbian drug lord Pablo Escobar lived the high life?power, women, unbelievable riches, fame?but died ignominiously (as most drug kingpins do), gunned down like a hunted animal. The unforgettable Tony Montana, portrayed by Al Pacino in the movie  Scarface, had it all until he became his own best customer. He died in a hail of bullets, his face powdered by coke. If you?re the guy low on the food  chain, you?re prone to getting the finger pointed at you if things go bad?or the gun pointed at you if you run your mouth the wrong way or get into the wrong situation. If you?re the man up high, you?re a  target for everyone?law enforcement, competitors, disgruntled customers, the laws of the street, and your own products. Play Russian roulette too often, you?re going to catch the wrong cylinder.

Danger Factor: Extremely high. You have to watch your back. Everyone is your potential enemy.
Pay Scale: At low levels, good, quick money. Tax free! At high levels, rich beyond your wildest dreams.
Perks: When it?s good, it doesn?t get any better: money, power, women, luxury.
Profile: Guys who like playing a dangerous game.

2. Himalayan Mountain Climber
The ultimate quest in Himalayan mountaineering is to climb all fourteen 8,000-square-meter peaks. Only six people have achieved this. The rest have either died trying or are still working on a task that?s near suicidal.  Mount Everest is the most notorious of the Himalayan climbs. It is the burial place to many would-be summiteers that didn?t have the good sense?or good luck?to get back down the mountain alive. But  the most fearsome peak of them all is Annapurna. The harsh statistical reality is this: One in two people who attempt this climb die. We call that dangerous. Plummeting off cliffs, through crevasses, being buried by avalanches, freezing to death, pulmonary and cerebral edema,  disorientation at the highest altitudes and then freezing to death?there are lots of ways to go on an 8,000-er. If you do make it off the mountain alive, you may not have use of all the limbs you started with: Severe  frostbite, gangrene, and other fearsome ailments can take their toll. Himalayan mountain climbers are thrill seekers, obsessed men who love nature and the outdoors and have an innate need to measure themselves against the most forbidding terrain in the world. They make their living not on the climbs themselves but on the  auxiliary benefits of their feats: through endorsements from outdoor outfitters and clothing suppliers, magazine and book writing and as guides to adventurous  amateurs. When the greatest climbers in this profession regularly meet death on the mountain, that?s dangerous. You like your life? Choose another profession.

Danger Factor: Insanely high.
Pay Scale: Difficult to get sponsors, it can cost you money?or your life?to get your rep going.
Perks: Getting to the top of the world and achieving what few others have done is one of the best feelings imaginable.
Profile: Adventurers of the highest order; requires top-notch training and fitness, toughness, savvy and experience.

1. Suicide Assailant
This is the most dangerous of all occupations and one that probably attracts the fewest applicants. The fundamental requirement, by definition alone, is to sacrifice your life while completing your task. Survival  rate is practically nil. You have to be either a real idiot to fail, or suddenly wake up and realize that maybe this job is not the best idea. Whether you?re talking Japanese kamikaze pilots in World  War II, Al-Qaeda car-bomber or other type of violent self-sacrificial act, the fatality rate is almost perfect.

Danger Factor: Nothing more dangerous than a job where you only succeed by dying.
Pay Scale: Whatever it is, you won?t get to enjoy it.
Perks: Free burial.
Profile: Fanatic

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