Tracey Turner - Worlds Worst Jobs

= Almost nothing

= Not a lot

= A living wage

= Nice little earner

= Rolling in money

From the Stone Age to the present day, people have earned a living doing a wide variety of hazardous jobs. Perils include steep cliffs, enormous falling trees, deadly diseases and fights to the death

WANTED: Lumberjack

DUTIES: Cutting down trees, hauling them out of the forest, and getting them ready for transport.

SALARY:

KEY SKILLS AND ATTRIBUTES:

Fitness, strength and general toughness are essential.

Ability to operate dangerous machinery an advantage, though training can be given.

Only tough, outdoorsy-types need apply.

Must enjoy time in the wilderness and the company of other lumberjacks.

Ah, the life of a simple lumberjack: striding manfully through the forest, at one with nature, the fresh air scented with pine resin and ringing with the sound of chainsaws you might be wondering how this can be one of the worlds worst jobs?

A lumberjacks job is one of the most dangerous in the world. Although theres plenty of healthy fresh air to breathe, there are also plenty of hazards. Lumberjacks use chainsaws to cut down trees and chainsaws have also been known to cut bits off the people operating them, often with fatal results. In the days before chainsaws, swinging sharp axes around could be hazardous too.

But the most dangerous part of a lumberjacks job is the enormous, heavy falling trees. (After all, this is the whole point of the job.) To cut down a tree, lumberjacks cut a wedge in one side this is the way they want the tree to fall. Then they saw through the other side. The tree should fall in the direction of the wedge, but it doesnt always. Since trees can be very tall and very heavy, theres a risk of being squashed thats impossible to ignore.

Putting cables around felled trees to transport them can be dangerous too the steel cables can snap under extreme tension, acting as giant metal whips that can cause severe injuries. To make things worse, lumberjacks jobs tend to be in remote areas, which means that theyre a long way from the nearest hospital if theres an accident.

In the old days, safety equipment consisted of a pair of stout boots and a bandage if you accidentally hacked your arm off with an axe. Nowadays, lumberjacks wear hard hats, steel-capped boots and Kevlar trousers to protect them, and ear protectors to save them from the deafening noise of chainsaws. Even so, its a perilous occupation and one that doesnt always pay very well to make up for it.

WANTED: Gladiator

DUTIES: Fighting and/or dying (in the most entertaining way possible).

SALARY: Board and lodging at gladiator school.

KEY SKILLS AND ATTRIBUTES:

Must be strong, muscly and as tough as a legionarys old boots.

Some sword skills an advantage, though full training will be given.

Fearlessness in the face of certain death and pitiless cruelty are both strong advantages.

Would suit slave and/or criminal.

The gladiators who fought in the ancient Roman games certainly had a dangerous job. They ended up having to fight other gladiators in front of screaming, bloodthirsty crowds sometimes to the death!

All over the Roman Empire, games were held as entertainment for the people ordinary folk and VIPs alike. They were a bit like modern football games except a lot more gruesome. The Roman games were held in huge, oval-shaped arenas seating hundreds if not thousands of spectators. The entertainment often began with a procession of all the people who were going to take part. Then there might be animal fights; maybe a few prisoners thrown to the lions, a wrestling match, a mock battle for the army to show off its skills, and perhaps a nice public execution to keep the crowds happy.

But the gladiator fighting was the highlight.

Most gladiators were slaves or prisoners. They didnt have much choice about what they did for a living, and were the property of the gladiator school owner. Sometimes, strange though it might seem, free men (and women) volunteered to fight as gladiators.

There were even emperors who fought as gladiators in public: Emperor Caligula, who was famous for being cruel and mad, and Emperor Commodus, who was pretty similar, both fought in the arena. Commodus cheated by giving his opponents useless weapons, so he always won.

So that they put on a good show, gladiators were specially trained in gladiator schools and became strong, fit and skilled fighters. They needed to be excellent fighters to please the crowds if they were entertaining to watch theyd be highly valued which meant they were a lot less likely to die in the arena.