Answer: Herding reindeer

Reindeer herding Sweden's most dangerous job
Irish Examiner, 12/12/2003 - 8:37:57 am

In Sweden, herding reindeer isn’t just hard work – it can be fatal.

Swedish researchers compiled a list of the most dangerous jobs in the Scandinavian country of nine million and found that reindeer herders, mostly indigenous Sami in the country’s far north, suffered more fatalities and injuries than any other worker.

According to Per Sjoelander, one of the researchers behind the study Fatal Accidents and Suicide Among Reindeer Herding Samis in Sweden, 150 reindeer herders have died on the job between 1961 and 2000, more than twice the number of farmers and more than three times the rate of construction workers during the same period.

“It’s a dangerous job. They drive around on vehicles in difficult terrain and on thin ice. They work a lot, they work in a tough climate, so there are many reasons behind this,” he said.

The researchers drew their conclusions by comparing official statistics on work-related accidents in different occupations found in the state-maintained Causes of Death registry.

“The reindeer herders are often by themselves when working, which may be a factor to the high number of fatal, work-related accidents,” said Sjoelander, who works in the Southern Lapland Research Department in Vilhelmina, 400 miles north of Stockholm.

The Sami, once called the Lapps, are believed to have followed their herds of reindeer to Europe’s northern fringe thousands of years ago and, like the Inuit of North America, are an indigenous people of the Arctic.

There are an estimated 300,000 reindeer in Sweden. The hides are used for clothing, handicrafts and fashion, and the meat for food. Reindeer herding is, together with the Sami languages, considered to be the core of the Sami culture.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, here are the most dangerous jobs in the USA

The workplace deaths of the Sep. 11, 2001 acts of terrorism are not reflected in these figures

(survey of occupations with minimum 30 fatalities and 45,000 workers in 2002)

Occupation Fatalities per 100,000

Timber cutters 117.8
Fishers 71.1
Pilots and navigators 69.8
Structural metal workers 58.2
Drivers-sales workers 37.9
Roofers 37
Electrical power installers 32.5
Farm occupations 28
Construction laborers 27.7
Truck drivers 25
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Average American workplace 4.0