Worst workplace incident/accident?
Discussion
I'll start with a couple of mine.
1st.
Working in an aircraft maintenance facility someone had inadvertently connected up the wrong Hydraulic servicing rig.
This particular rig had no relief valve and relied on the aircrafts own systems to keep the pressure in limits.
Unfortunately the aircraft it had been connected to didn't have a relief valve in its own system.......anyway eventually as the system pressure built and built........BANG.....the loudest bang I've ever experienced and I was a long way from ground zero.
A Hydraulic accumulator in the nose gear bay had exploded in spectacular fashion if anyone had been in there working it would have been game over.
The other that I was not present for but heard the story from flight crew.
After starting the engines a ground handler had removed the plug for the ground power unit and then had bent down to remove the chocks from the nose wheels. .......apparently he banged his head quite hard on the nose gear door and dazed had staggered backwards into the propeller........the crew felt a thud and shudder on the flight deck. ....
Shutdown......police.... hse.....the works.
1st.
Working in an aircraft maintenance facility someone had inadvertently connected up the wrong Hydraulic servicing rig.
This particular rig had no relief valve and relied on the aircrafts own systems to keep the pressure in limits.
Unfortunately the aircraft it had been connected to didn't have a relief valve in its own system.......anyway eventually as the system pressure built and built........BANG.....the loudest bang I've ever experienced and I was a long way from ground zero.
A Hydraulic accumulator in the nose gear bay had exploded in spectacular fashion if anyone had been in there working it would have been game over.
The other that I was not present for but heard the story from flight crew.
After starting the engines a ground handler had removed the plug for the ground power unit and then had bent down to remove the chocks from the nose wheels. .......apparently he banged his head quite hard on the nose gear door and dazed had staggered backwards into the propeller........the crew felt a thud and shudder on the flight deck. ....
Shutdown......police.... hse.....the works.
A couple I know of for various reasons.
1. A chap was using a lovely chop saw but drunk. He kept feeding the wood through the saw but his had was, well, I think you can guess where his hand was. A perfect slice through diagonally from wrist to the point between thumb and finger........
2. A chap decided to smoke at work. Fair enough. Of course, if he wasn't filling the petrol station up at the time it might have helped. Boom...
3. A chap got drunk at the Chrimbo party. He had some fun with his secretary. Both married. Child arrived nine months later..... Quite an accident really....
1. A chap was using a lovely chop saw but drunk. He kept feeding the wood through the saw but his had was, well, I think you can guess where his hand was. A perfect slice through diagonally from wrist to the point between thumb and finger........
2. A chap decided to smoke at work. Fair enough. Of course, if he wasn't filling the petrol station up at the time it might have helped. Boom...
3. A chap got drunk at the Chrimbo party. He had some fun with his secretary. Both married. Child arrived nine months later..... Quite an accident really....
magpie215 said:
I'll start with a couple of mine.
1st.
Working in an aircraft maintenance facility someone had inadvertently connected up the wrong Hydraulic servicing rig.
This particular rig had no relief valve and relied on the aircrafts own systems to keep the pressure in limits.
Unfortunately the aircraft it had been connected to didn't have a relief valve in its own system.......anyway eventually as the system pressure built and built........BANG.....the loudest bang I've ever experienced and I was a long way from ground zero.
A Hydraulic accumulator in the nose gear bay had exploded in spectacular fashion if anyone had been in there working it would have been game over.
The other that I was not present for but heard the story from flight crew.
After starting the engines a ground handler had removed the plug for the ground power unit and then had bent down to remove the chocks from the nose wheels. .......apparently he banged his head quite hard on the nose gear door and dazed had staggered backwards into the propeller........the crew felt a thud and shudder on the flight deck. ....
Shutdown......police.... hse.....the works.
Those long winter nights must fly by at your house.1st.
Working in an aircraft maintenance facility someone had inadvertently connected up the wrong Hydraulic servicing rig.
This particular rig had no relief valve and relied on the aircrafts own systems to keep the pressure in limits.
Unfortunately the aircraft it had been connected to didn't have a relief valve in its own system.......anyway eventually as the system pressure built and built........BANG.....the loudest bang I've ever experienced and I was a long way from ground zero.
A Hydraulic accumulator in the nose gear bay had exploded in spectacular fashion if anyone had been in there working it would have been game over.
The other that I was not present for but heard the story from flight crew.
After starting the engines a ground handler had removed the plug for the ground power unit and then had bent down to remove the chocks from the nose wheels. .......apparently he banged his head quite hard on the nose gear door and dazed had staggered backwards into the propeller........the crew felt a thud and shudder on the flight deck. ....
Shutdown......police.... hse.....the works.
No pun intended.
Few years ago as a student I had a Saturday job at the local supermaket. A colleague forgot to but on the oven gloves when removing a cage of bread from the in store bakery oven. Not quite sure how she didn’t feel the 200 degree heat on her face when opening the door but she certainly felt the cage when she went to pull it out! A nasty burn and a trip to a and e followed.
Jasandjules said:
A couple I know of for various reasons.
1. A chap was using a lovely chop saw but drunk. He kept feeding the wood through the saw but his had was, well, I think you can guess where his hand was. A perfect slice through diagonally from wrist to the point between thumb and finger........
We had a guy who was operating a circular saw, first thing in the morning after a big drinking night. Still really pissed but no one knew. He managed to put the saw down the middle of his ring finger, right down to the ring. If that hadn't been there, he probably would've pushed his hand further, right to his wrist.1. A chap was using a lovely chop saw but drunk. He kept feeding the wood through the saw but his had was, well, I think you can guess where his hand was. A perfect slice through diagonally from wrist to the point between thumb and finger........
The finger kind of split like a snake's forked tongue, right down to the base
Steel worker for one of the most dangerous companies to work for so accidents are pretty regular, explosion killed 2 a couple of years back.
The worst ive heard is a hot steel round bar bouncing off the rolling mill and through his leg, people could only watch as the bar cut through his leg like a hot knife as he screamed.
Worst ive seen isnt steel related but happened in work a driver turning a tight corner in the warehouse stopped to check something and got out his cab. He must have left it in gear as it was rolleded forwards slightly, he stepped onto the bottom step of his cab reached in and knocked it into neutral but he knocked it into reverse, as he jumped down the lorry reversed and squashed him between a roll off skip and his wagon. He was like a rag doll spinning then dropping to the floor not moving. His clothes jeans and boxers were shredded, he just lay there with his tackle hanging out and bloody scrapes all over him.
I thought he was dead but he came around not long after and we got him to hoapital. He came back the next day looked a right mess but collected his wagon and drove off.
The worst ive heard is a hot steel round bar bouncing off the rolling mill and through his leg, people could only watch as the bar cut through his leg like a hot knife as he screamed.
Worst ive seen isnt steel related but happened in work a driver turning a tight corner in the warehouse stopped to check something and got out his cab. He must have left it in gear as it was rolleded forwards slightly, he stepped onto the bottom step of his cab reached in and knocked it into neutral but he knocked it into reverse, as he jumped down the lorry reversed and squashed him between a roll off skip and his wagon. He was like a rag doll spinning then dropping to the floor not moving. His clothes jeans and boxers were shredded, he just lay there with his tackle hanging out and bloody scrapes all over him.
I thought he was dead but he came around not long after and we got him to hoapital. He came back the next day looked a right mess but collected his wagon and drove off.
Whatsmyname said:
Railway worker,
Staff member hit by a train - killed
Staff member picked up by an HST (hooked his backpack) and threw him down the track
60ft Rail dropped on staff members hand
Staff member hit in throat with a brushcutter
Staff member hit in face with a disc-cutter
Plenty more too
And many people still think H&S is a bit of an inconvenience.Staff member hit by a train - killed
Staff member picked up by an HST (hooked his backpack) and threw him down the track
60ft Rail dropped on staff members hand
Staff member hit in throat with a brushcutter
Staff member hit in face with a disc-cutter
Plenty more too
Just after leaving school myself and some school friends started work in a local factory, we were loading a lorry and my mate was on the trailor messing about, he lost his footing and fell off the back of the lorry with one of the hooked straps that hold the sheeting tight catching his left marble and ripping it open
Around 3 years ago a female H&S person was stomping around the new house build site I was working on picking fault with anything and everything she could find fault with, even down to the empty cement bags I had on the floor in the corner of the house saying I should put each one in the skip when it becomes empty, basically a pain in the rear with no common sence. The site managers office was the top of a double stack container with stairs for access, as she is leaving and making a point of telling everyone 'heads will roll if things are sorted' she falls down the stairs and breaks her arm
Around 3 years ago a female H&S person was stomping around the new house build site I was working on picking fault with anything and everything she could find fault with, even down to the empty cement bags I had on the floor in the corner of the house saying I should put each one in the skip when it becomes empty, basically a pain in the rear with no common sence. The site managers office was the top of a double stack container with stairs for access, as she is leaving and making a point of telling everyone 'heads will roll if things are sorted' she falls down the stairs and breaks her arm
I used to work for a drinks wholesaler and some of the less popular drinks were stacked up high on racking, maybe 20-25 feet up.
One day, the warehouseman forked up his mate on a pallet to go and collect a couple of cases of drink. Matey up high put one foot on the racking while leaving the other foot on the pallet and leaned over to get the first case. Bloke on the forklift couldn't see him properly and shouted up "All right?", meaning "Can I fork you back down now?". Guy on the forklift, thinking his mate meant a more general question of how he was, replied "Yep".
Forklift guy then started to reverse back while pallet guy still had one foot on the racking. Ended up falling off, landing heavily and breaking both ankles.
One day, the warehouseman forked up his mate on a pallet to go and collect a couple of cases of drink. Matey up high put one foot on the racking while leaving the other foot on the pallet and leaned over to get the first case. Bloke on the forklift couldn't see him properly and shouted up "All right?", meaning "Can I fork you back down now?". Guy on the forklift, thinking his mate meant a more general question of how he was, replied "Yep".
Forklift guy then started to reverse back while pallet guy still had one foot on the racking. Ended up falling off, landing heavily and breaking both ankles.
First day at work as a shift manager in the dispatch department of a national bakery . One of the maintenance engineers went into a bread cooler , a huge moving rack system that held 5000 loaves , he should have removed the isolation links and kept them safe , preventing the thing from starting up while he was inside . He didn't do this due to being drunk . He passed a magic eye switch inside which started the machine up . It took the fire brigade and engineers 7 hrs to remove his body .
I was working at a manufacturing plant , one area was for filling aerosols but on this day one of the production lines was being run by an inexperienced operator who didn't lower the temperature of the waterbath where the aerosols were filled when the staff had lunch break . When they returned the temperature had exceeded the flash point of the propellant , as the line started up the explosion blew the wall out and sent a 6 ft extractor fan 150ft down neighbouring gardens , it lifted the roof off the unit , all this happend just as I arrived in the door on a forklift, as the automatic door opened I witnessed a rolling ball of flame spreading across the roof space then the large plastic lid of a chemical IBC smashed into the front of the forklift , followed by thousands of aerosol nozzles and rollon balls . Luckily there were no injuries just a few singed eyebrows and damp clothes as the sprinkler systems kicked in . It was like being in the middle of the special effects on a film set , reality as to how close to a disaster it wasset in about an hour later as I sat in the canteen having a cup of tea .
That unit was out of commission for 7 months .
I was working at a manufacturing plant , one area was for filling aerosols but on this day one of the production lines was being run by an inexperienced operator who didn't lower the temperature of the waterbath where the aerosols were filled when the staff had lunch break . When they returned the temperature had exceeded the flash point of the propellant , as the line started up the explosion blew the wall out and sent a 6 ft extractor fan 150ft down neighbouring gardens , it lifted the roof off the unit , all this happend just as I arrived in the door on a forklift, as the automatic door opened I witnessed a rolling ball of flame spreading across the roof space then the large plastic lid of a chemical IBC smashed into the front of the forklift , followed by thousands of aerosol nozzles and rollon balls . Luckily there were no injuries just a few singed eyebrows and damp clothes as the sprinkler systems kicked in . It was like being in the middle of the special effects on a film set , reality as to how close to a disaster it wasset in about an hour later as I sat in the canteen having a cup of tea .
That unit was out of commission for 7 months .
I once managed to put a 5.5mm hole through myself. In an office environment. Somehow managed to miss anything solid, tissue only.
Didn't react much at first as it just hurt a little (like a cut) & I didn't look too closely at what I'd done. I may have shouted a bit once I took a peek at the leak.
During abseiling training I watched the instructor manage to completely cock up and break both their legs.
Didn't react much at first as it just hurt a little (like a cut) & I didn't look too closely at what I'd done. I may have shouted a bit once I took a peek at the leak.
During abseiling training I watched the instructor manage to completely cock up and break both their legs.
Edited by Jonesy23 on Tuesday 18th September 00:07
Joiner in one of our workshops used his bare hand to guide a piece of door facing through the planer/thicknesser, managed to take about 5 mm off the top of two of his fingers...., 6 weeks later, the same guy is back at work explaining his accident to the H&S guy , 'How did I do it?' he said. 'Well I just had a piece of wood like this, fed it through the machine like this, and ARGHHHH!' . Yes, he did exactly the same thing again, in front of the H&S guy.
I knew a bloke who once got a paper cut on his tongue when licking an envelope in order to seal it.
Gruesome stuff.
Luckily most envelopes these days are self sealing, but you all still need to be careful when sealing envelopes for greetings cards.
Using a moist sponge eliminates a lot of the risk.
Please be careful out there.
Gruesome stuff.
Luckily most envelopes these days are self sealing, but you all still need to be careful when sealing envelopes for greetings cards.
Using a moist sponge eliminates a lot of the risk.
Please be careful out there.
Years ago I was an apprentice in a radar repair depot. AVO meters were used to measure voltages, the probes in those days were insulated with rubber that used to deteriorate over time and should be replaced periodically; some older blokes never bothered. One old fellow was working on a radar set (that have huge voltages in places) on a bench which required him to lean over the radar set to get the probes in the right place. Above the bench was a metal shelf carrying oscilloscopes, power supplies etc... a very sturdy steel angle iron shelf. Anyway the rubber had gone too far the old boy got a shock that made him go bolt upright... except he couldn't as his head cracked against the underside of the shelf, whatever he had managed to connect himself to seemed to be pulsing as once per second for the next 20-30 seconds his body would relax then crack his head with the strength of every muscle in his body on to the underside of the metal shelf. BANG BANG BANG every second. He lived but had the mother of all headaches and blood etc.
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