10 Of The Unhealthiest Jobs In The World

Nurse

Despite helping to keep us healthy and fit, nurses have one of the unhealthiest jobs going. A study published in the Journal of Nursing Administration found that around 55 per cent of nurses were obese, whilst another study found that of the 19,000 nurses involved in the study, 10 per cent had been physically injured whilst at work.  

Floral designer

Working with flowers sounds like a rather pleasant career, but there are actually lots of hidden hazards. These creative workers regularly use floral foam that can cause irritation to both the eyes and skin. Floral designers can also suffer from occupational asthma and they can also be at a greater risk of contracting fungal infections. Who knew flowers could be so harmful?

Fishermen

Although the majority of us who fish do so for pleasure, it seems to be a highly dangerous job. In the 2011 National Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries the US Bureau of Labor Statistics found that the fishing industry suffered the most fatalities that year, with 121.2 per 100,000 workers dying whilst at work. Often the workers died when a boat capsized.

Office jobs

If you thought that working nine to five was safe and that the most harm you could suffer in an office was from a paper cut, you’d be wrong. For those who work in an office sitting down for the majority of the day has recently been found to be very dangerous.

In fact, a study conducted in 2013 found that of the 60,348 Australian men they surveyed, the more time the man sat down, the more likely they were to have a chronic disease, such as heart disease, diabetes or cancer. If you’re in an office right now, get up and move about.

Dancer or choreographer

A study that was published in the Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology found that dancers and choreographers had a higher divorce rate than any other occupation that they studied. If you’re asking why this makes a difference to their health, consider that people who are single tend to have higher mortality rates, have worse heart health and worse mental health than those people in marriages.  

Lawyer

If you are studying for the bar, look away now – apparently just four out of 10 lawyers would recommend their career to anyone. One reason lawyers are so unhappy is because of the high levels of stress associated with their work.

A study undertaken by Law Care found that 47 per cent of their legal worker participants had felt at breaking point before and 75 per cent of those surveyed said they found their work environment stressful.

Stress has a detrimental effect on our health and can lead to all sorts of health related problems, including ulcers, high blood pressure, heart disease and stroke.

Air hostess

Jetting off to sunny locations and exploring exotic new places sounds fantastic, but for those air hostesses working night shifts the jet set lifestyle could be risky. Studies have found that women who worked during the night over a long-term basis had a higher risk of developing breast cancer than those women who did not work at night. In Denmark, those women who worked night shifts on a long-term basis and who developed breast cancer have been awarded compensation for their industrial injury.

Enlisted military personnel

CareerCast.com work with researchers at the University of Wisconsin to work out which are the most stressful jobs going. Their recent findings suggest that not only is being an enlisted military personnel the worst job, it was also dubbed as being the most stressful job in 2013 due to the highly dangerous situations they are forced to face.

Cleaner

Cleaners are unfortunate enough to be exposed to a whole host of unhealthy situations and chemicals. Cleaning products often contain harmful solvents, which can lead to solvent poisoning. Their cleaning products can also cause occupational asthma.

Bus drivers

Be kind to your bus driver the next time you see them because in 2010 the Bureau of Labor Statistics found that bus drivers had more injuries and more illnesses than any other occupation. Add to this the fact that bus drivers sit down for long stretches of time each day and you have yourself a very unhealthy job.