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America's most dangerous jobs

The American workplace is less dangerous than it was last year, but at these 10 jobs every day is a gamble.

Fishermen

gallery dangerous jobs deadliest catch
The Discovery Channel show "Deadliest Catch" highlighted the dangers fishermen face.
  • Fatality rate per 100,000 workers: 121.2
  • Median wage: $30,220

Forty fishermen lost their lives last year, according to the Labor Department's annual report on workplace fatalities.

But things used to be much worse: "Conditions were so bad, the loss of life and vessels was so great that getting insurance was starting to be a major problem," said Leslie Hughes, who founded the North Pacific Fishing Vessel Owners' Association Vessel Safety Program, which trains fishermen in safety skills such as fire prevention, damage control and cold water survival.

The training has helped, but so have big changes to the fishing quota system. Instead of each crew working around the clock in all sorts of weather to catch as many fish as they can before a fleet-wide cap is reached, boats get assigned individual quotas they can fill at anytime within the season.

"Under the old system, they had to get out as soon as they could and fish as quickly as they could," said Hughes. "They can get out of the weather now."

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics' "National Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries in 2011." (Preliminary results).
  @CNNMoney - Last updated September 20 2012 11:59 AM ET

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