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In 1911, a fire in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York led to almost 150 deaths.
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Because sweatshop owners kept the doors locked, many were trapped, and had to jump out of the high-story windows.
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This incident was the catalyst for labor law reform in the United States.
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But outside the US, labor laws are still extremely lax.
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So which countries have the worst labor laws? And what are the most dangerous jobs in the world?
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Well, according to an expert at the Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights, today’s most dangerous job is "ship breaking."
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This is the practice of cutting apart and dismantling huge tanker ships and recycling the pieces.
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The work is difficult and deadly because tankers are built to withstand ocean storms, and RESIST breaking apart.
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Often they release hazardous materials, like asbestos.
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And their decomposition is toxic to laborers and the beaches they are dismantled on.
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According to a watchdog group, 1 worker dies every week, and 1 is injured every day.
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Although deaths are so common that many go unreported.
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The most dangerous ship breaking goes on in Bangladesh, India, and China.
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Additionally, sweatshop labor, fishing, and mining are also among the most dangerous professions within the developing world.
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In fact, Bangladesh, India, and China are often listed as “the worst countries in the world to work in.
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"This is due to unfair labor practices and inaccessible worker rights.
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Laborers often must work with carcinogenic materials and aren’t compensated for job-related health problems.
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Sweatshop factories that supply global companies manage to keep costs low by ignoring safety standards.
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And any attempt by workers to organize unions for better treatment can result in fines and even prison time in countries like Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
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In the US, jobs that deal with heavy machinery have the highest rates of fatality - specifically lumberjacks, fishermen, and pilots.
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The risk of being murdered while on the job is highest for taxi drivers and chauffeurs, which is more than twice the rate for police officers.
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And although there are many more labor protections, the US actually ranks pretty low for workers rights.
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In fact, the US has the same labor rating as countries like Mexico, Argentina, and Thailand.
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This is partially because many American companies oppose organized labor and worker benefits.
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Wal-Mart, for example, is notoriously anti-union and was recently ordered to pay almost $200 million dollars for failing to compensate workers.
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However, for a company like Walmart, fines and lawsuits account for only a small percentage of their profits and often have little effect on workers rights reform.
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According to the International Labor Organization, on average, EVERY DAY about 6,000 people die from work-related incidents.
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This adds up to more than 2 million deaths per year, and countless more injuries.
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Though the ILO has long endeavored to bring standardized worker rights to all countries worldwide, so far their efforts have not succeeded.
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Today, millions of people continue to labor in work conditions far worse than the average American citizen has ever seen.
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The world is a dangerous place for many professions.
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Check out the video up top from This Happened Here about the perils of war photography.
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Or to see which countries are the most dangerous for journalists, check out our video below.
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