The Most Extreme Jobs in the World

According to YourTradeBase, a company that provides software to help companies with their paperwork, a cave diver's job carries risks like drowning, decompression sickness and breathing the wrong gas mixture. You do get to discover whole new worlds, though.

Yes, it's a real job. A crocodile psychologist studies crocodile behaviour and, according to YourTradeBase, can earn $62,500 a year. If you're wondering about the risks, simply look at a crocodile's jaws.

As a whitewater rafting guide, you'll be paid per season to guide others through raging rapids. There's no lack of adrenaline here, but, as YourTradeBase points out, you're also responsible for the safety of your clients.

As a skydiving instructor, you help jumpers take the leap and guide them safely to solid ground. One of the risks that YourTradeBase lists is that your life depends completely on whether or not the equipment is working as it should.

As YourTradeBase says, your job as an Everest guide means you have to deal with high altitudes, extreme and unpredictable weather conditions and very few resources. You also need to ensure that none of the climbers in your group become another name on the long list of people who have died trying to conquer the world's highest mountain.

A stunt performer may be required to do anything from being set on fire, to jumping from a high building. YourTradeBase says that using the wrong equipment or not planning properly can lead to injury. However, you may get to meet a big-name actor who'll take the glory for your bravery.

A storm chaser has to get up close to storms to place sensors that will record weather data. The risks, according to YourTradeBase, include being struck by lightning, being hit by debris in strong winds and storms often being unpredictable.

A venom milker collects the venom from snakes' fangs. And, as YourTradeBase points out, snakes don't enjoy being milked.

A smoke jumper is the ultimate firefighter, jumping from planes into burning forests to contain the inferno. The dangers are obvious, but in addition, you may have to be totally self-reliant for as many as 72 hours with flames raging around you, according to YourTradeBase.

YourTradeBase says that a safari guide's job carries risks like being exposed to wild animals that can be unpredictable. You're responsible for the tourists on the safari too, and you're far from medical help should something go wrong.

LiveScience says that astronauts work in one of the harshest environments. As if being in outer space isn't risky enough, you may also suffer from weakened bones and muscle atrophy once you're out of the low-gravity environment.

It may sound like a mundane job to work in a science lab, but it also involves working with dangerous chemicals that can release toxic gases or cause explosions. LiveScience also says that powerful magnets in MRI scanners can cause metal objects to come flying past with no warning.

As Oddee points out, an act where someone simply throws knives at a board is interesting, but it becomes much more dramatic and exciting when there's a live target who might be injured or even killed.

Working deep in Earth's bowels is noisy, hot and uncomfortable. It's also extremely dangerous. According to NerveRush, mining has one of the highest fatality rates of any job.

NerveRush says that logging workers have to deal with risks such as sharp tools and falling trees. It's no wonder that it's one of the most dangerous jobs in Canada. To make matters worse, it involves intense physical labour.

Oddee says that manual demining is still the most accurate way of removing naval or land mines. However, it requires nerves of steel and a very, very steady hand.

If your job as helicopter pilot involves search and rescue, you'll be required to fly into situations that are more dangerous than usual. You may have to deal with extreme weather conditions or some very tight spots, and, as NerveRush says, nearly a third of crashes in these situations are fatal.

Another job on the list of most dangerous in Canada is that of a commercial fisher. NerveRush says that fishers in the waters around Canada have to contend with choppy waters and icy, slippery decks.

Cleaning windows becomes much more fun when the windows that need cleaning are in a tank full of sharks. Like TotalJobs says, you may also have to deal with a crowd watching and hoping one of the sharks suddenly wants a snack.

According to an article in the Mirror, testing water slides is a bona fide job. You need to check that the slide is safe to use, but surely the sheer fun of it outweighs the risks.