Just about every job entails some measure of stress, and most office jobs require being sedentary at a desk all day. Both of these common factors in the workplace can have negative impacts on health. Even just leaving the house to go to work and going about the workday brings with it risks to health and safety.
But that’s nothing compared to the working conditions some endure. At some perilous and unhealthy jobs, workers take their lives into their hands every day. Unfortunately, even more common are jobs that take a gradual toll on the health of the worker.
Common occupational health hazards include prolonged exposure to harmful substances and vapors, structural failures, accidents, and neglecting to follow safety procedures. As you’ll see in the list of least healthy occupations that follows, heavy lifting does a lot of damage in the workplace, causing musculoskeletal injuries and other aches and sprains. Chemical exposure can lead to liver damage, cancer, and reproductive problems.
To determine the following most "unhealthy" occupations, the online employment resource SimplyHired.com consulted the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ report on injuries, illnesses, and fatalities. These seven jobs, arranged from the jobs where workers missed the least workdays to the one where they missed the most days, are likely to be hazardous to your health.
By Colleen Kane
Posted August 18, 2011