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  • In 1911, a fire in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York led to almost 150 deaths.

  • Because sweatshop owners kept the doors locked, many were trapped and had to jump out of the high-story windows.

  • This incident was the catalyst for labor law reform in the United States.

  • But outside the US, labor laws are still extremely lax.

  • So which countries have the worst labor laws? And what are the most dangerous jobs in the world?

  • Well, according to an expert at the Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights, today’s most dangerous job is ship breaking.

  • This is the practice of cutting apart and dismantling huge tanker ships and recycling the pieces.

  • The work is difficult and deadly because tankers are built to withstand ocean storms and resist breaking apart.

  • Often they release hazardous materials, like asbestos.

  • And their decomposition is toxic to laborers and the beaches they are dismantled on.

  • According to a watchdog group, one worker dies every week, and one is injured every day, although deaths are so common that many go unreported.

  • The most dangerous ship breaking goes on in Bangladesh, India, and China.

  • Additionally, sweatshop labor, fishing, and mining are also among the most dangerous professions within the developing world.

  • In fact, Bangladesh, India, and China are often listed as the worst countries in the world to work in.

  • This is due to unfair labor practices and inaccessible worker rights.

  • Laborers often must work with carcinogenic materials and aren’t compensated for job-related health problems.

  • Sweatshop factories that supply global companies manage to keep costs low by ignoring safety standards.

  • 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.

  • In the US, jobs that deal with heavy machinery have the highest rates of fatality, specifically lumberjacks, fishermen, and pilots.

  • 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.

  • And although there are many more labor protections, the US actually ranks pretty low for workers rights.

  • In fact, the US has the same labor rating as countries like Mexico, Argentina, and Thailand.

  • This is partially because many American companies oppose organized labor and worker benefits.

  • WalMart, for example, is notoriously anti-union and was recently ordered to pay almost $200 million dollars for failing to compensate workers.

  • 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.

  • According to the International Labor Organization, on average, every day about 6,000 people die from work-related incidents.

  • This adds up to more than two million deaths per year and countless more injuries.

  • Though the ILO has long endeavored to bring standardized worker rights to all countries worldwide, so far their efforts have not succeeded.

  • Today, millions of people continue to labor in work conditions far worse than the average American citizen has ever seen.

  • The world is a dangerous place for many professions.

  • Check out the video up top from This Happened Here about the perils of war photography.

  • Or to see which countries are the most dangerous for journalists, check out our video below.

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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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