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Survey Reveals the Scariest Jobs According to American Workers

Bomb squad technician tops list; miner, high school teacher, stunt person among the most frightening professions., Pay cuts, presentations and high workload are among the things workers are most afraid of at work.,

What makes a job frightening? Imminent danger? Public speaking? Eerie surroundings? As Halloween weekend approaches, American workers voted on the scariest profession, choosing careers ranging from the death-defying (firefighter) to the potentially humiliating (stand-up comedian). The nationwide scariest jobs survey was conducted by Harris Interactive from August 16 to September 8, 2011 with more than 4,300 workers.

Among the scariest jobs are:

• Bomb Squad Technician
• High Rise Window Washer
• Armed Forces
• Miner
• Police Officer
• Alaskan Crab Fishing
• Mortician
• Firefighter
• High School Teacher
• Cemetery Worker
• Exterminator
• Stand-Up Comedian
• Animal Control
• Stunt Person
• Politician

What are employees most afraid of at work?

While most Americans won’t find themselves in any of the above careers, aspects of their own jobs can keep them on edge. More than a third of workers (36 percent) say layoffs are what they are most afraid of at work. Other work-related issues that may keep workers up at night include:

• Pay cuts – 13 percent
• Workload – 9 percent
• Presenting in front of other people – 9 percent
• Forced relocation – 4 percent
• The boss – 3 percent

Survey Methodology

This survey was conducted online within the U.S. by Harris Interactive© on behalf of CareerBuilder among 4,384 U.S. workers (employed full-time, not self-employed, non-government) ages 18 and over between August 16 and September 8, 2011 (percentages for some questions are based on a subset, based on their responses to certain questions). With pure probability sample of 4,384, one could say with a 95 percent probability that the overall results have a sampling error of +/-1.48 percentage points. Sampling error for data from sub-samples is higher and varies.

I am not afraid of Scariest Jobs at all – I can sleep next to them.