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Unsafe Job?

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Have you ever worked a job that was unsafe? What did you do? If you’ve ever gotten worked up about safety, we want to hear about it! Share your story for a chance to win.

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The day

By Harsh
I was head chef and the utensils were not proper leading to me losing one of my fingers.

Share What You Know

By Dawn
Although some of my past jobs may have had some unsafe aspects to it, my current employer keeps safety in the fore front of everyone's minds. With constant reminders and teachings about safety, I have been able to share my knowledge with my teenage daughter and give her tips about what to look for in her workplace. With my suggestions, she has been able to spot potential hazards that may have caused her or others to become seriously hurt.

Roof Work

By Jessica
This story happened when I was around 12 years old. My whole family was at my Grandparents cabin and we where all doing chores. I was chosen to go out onto the roof to clean out all the moss that had been growing there, as well as clean out the gutters. As a 12 year old child I thought this was a great adventure, as I had never been allowed on the roof before. To get onto it, I had to climb out my Grandparents window and swing myself onto the roof. It was very slippery from all the gunk that was up there, and because it had recently rained. And of course, I had no safety equipment holding me onto the roof. in the moment, I thought that it was a great idea and there was nothing wrong but now I would like to ask my Grandparents what exactly where they thinking?

The roof

By Jesse The great
When I was just 15.I was told to go on the roof to fix the problem with the satellite.and i had no safety equipment and i almost slip off the roof on to the ground I said never again.

Protect Your Digits

By Community Centre
My 2 finger got cut by an cutting machine & 3 weeks later my 1 finger got caught between a door.

UNSAFE WORK

By ANTHONY LEONARD
SAFE WORK IS ALWAYS GOOD FOR A JOB THAT YOUR UNSURE OF ALWAYS ASK ABOUT THE JOB AND NEVER BE SHY TO QUESTION ABOUT UNSAFE WORK. YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO REFUSE UNSAFE WORK THE RIGHT TO KNOW, ALSO THE RIGHT TO PARTICIPATE. YOU HAVE EVERY RIGHT THERE IS ABOUT UNSAFE WORK.

Pulling more than just a wheel barrow

By Gc
12 my uncle made me pull a wheelbarrow and ended up pulling my left shoulder

Injured in autobody

By T dog
I was working at an auto repair shop and was under a vehicle on a creeper, without my knowlage another employee had entered the vehicle and started to move, I yelled "STOP" but he could not hear me as he had no windows open, I turned my face to the side but a hanging piece of metal caught my face and cut my cheek open, I was taken to the hospital and only had a few stitches but was otherwise fine

My job

By Hour of work not paid for
I work for a company that I open the store in the mornings. I start at 7:45 and I usually end at 3pm. they told me when I first started there that we only get paid from 8:45 to 3 because they knock off an hour of my pay.

Water Cooler

By Robyn
I work in an office. The safety risk was lifting a large water cooler jug from the floor to replace an empty jug in a dispenser. I don't have the strength to lift the jug. Though there was some pressure from my boss to do this regularly, I stopped doing this.

Lawn

By Max
I had to tend a garden without safety equipment. I refused.

my advice

By darrell g
being safe is good thing always wear a hard hat always be a good thing guy do your work right an you'll be okay nothing bad could ever happen take my advice - i'm a good guy take my steps an you'll be okay.

Working with unsafe people

By John
This was 20 years ago, I was 19, working out in the oil industry in northern alberta for a company that moved small drilling rigs. I had some experience working for a larger company already so I was pretty comfortable in that working environment. It was a small company with less then 10 employees. Each day I would go out with a semi truck driver and I would be the labourer/helper. One day I showed up and the driver was acting strange. When we reached the job site, the driver was controlling the truck mounted crane, unloading equipment with me directing him. His controls were erratic and dangerous. I ask him to stop and went over to talk to him. I discovered that he had taken drugs (cocaine) that morning. I told him to go sit in the truck and I took over the controls finishing the job. After I radioed our dispatch and let them know of the situation and to come and bring someone to drive the truck home as I didn't have a valid license to drive a semi. The driver was a friend of the owner and was not fired. I refused to work with the driver again and was fired shortly after for refusing work.

Unsafe student job

By M.
Many years ago, while working as a student in the dietary department of a major Winnipeg hospital, one of the steam tables began to give minor shocks to the workers. We immediately informed our supervisor who told us to carry on. We knew this was unsafe so refused. The supervisor attempted to get another worker to do the work. We refused to allow that and unplugged the table and marked as broken. We had no training regarding this and I am very proud of the young group of workers that knew to say no. I wish we had had the safety training from SWOT.

BE SAFE!

By Harry
It's very important to be safe because when you get injured, it does not only affect your life, but it affects the lives of those around you. Please be safe, you could save a life or, more importantly, your own life!

Safe is cool

By Harry
If you had to decide with being unsafe and potentially dying to be cool, or being safe and saving your own life although you might be embarrassed what would you choose? The latter! I would always want to be safe because if I'm not safe, I could potentially die!

Appreciation

By JM
With this website and the orientation that i was attended to, gave me lot of information about safety on work. So thank you very much. Im sure to report it right away if anything happens not only to me but with the people that I used to know.

worked up

By logan dawson
i haven't really got injured at work because I try and stay as safe as I can

Almost motor accident

By RN
I was fixing a motor and I had to put in finger in a little hole to try and get the piece out, and the person I was working with started it up ( not knowing i was there ) and then all of a sudden it started moving and right away i took my hand out almost getting my finger cut off. After that she came running over cause i screamed and she was in a panic.

Don't do it

By Cyanna
If you want a job don't get one that could kill you or severely hurt you if something goes bad. You should get a job that allows you to work safely and not have to worry about the possibility of being injured. If you need a job really badly don't take an unsafe one, you could get a job somewhere else even if it is an old job like shoveling snow or mowing the lawn. Those jobs would be better than putting yourself at risk.

It's Important

By worriedcitizen
Your health and body is much more important than money. What would you do with the money when you're dead and cannot spend it. It's not worth it.

Safety First

By McDonalds
One time a coworker was cleaning the lobby floor and didn't use the wet floor sign. I wiped out and fell down and it hurt.

Gloves

By Jess
I work at the end of a dishwasher with very hot dishes I burnt my hads multiple times so I talked to my Manager and she bought my heaven dury gloves so now I no longer burn my hands

Weak scafold

By Curt reimer
I was 15 and me and my Dad were putting face boards on the side of a roof.it was about10' high,so we made a scaffolding out of 2x4s and an old 2x10 to stand on..well the 2x4 I was standing on broke and I went crashing down,I grabbed the roof edge and luckily was dangling a foot off the ground,only minor scrapes.

Too Short for the Ladder

By
I used to work for a retail store where the ladder they had was not tall enough for a short person like myself to properly change the light bulbs. I was still forced by my co-workers even though they knew I would have had to go on the top of the ladder (where it clearly states do not stand) to reach properly. Needless to say I didn't change many light bulbs after moving up in the company.

Retail Dangers

By Mark
I worked at a huge retail store that had big, heavy boxes tightly filled with clothes piled in the stock room. This would not have been a problem if only these boxes were not stacked 8-10 boxes high, teetering because they were not stacked properly, and there were no supports in case the boxes gave out. This was not even the bigges problem, everytime you start your shift, you have to go to the break room to grab equipment for the shift, and to get to the break room you have to go through a skinny hallway made by these boxes; I always walked briskly while going through this hallway because of the fear that the boxes would fall on me. Also, if you are one of the employees selected to work a 10pm-2am shift to do the "floor change over" and is assigned for the stock room, you and your coworkers have to take all the clothes out of the boxes and out of their individual plastic bags; to do this, someone had to climb the towers of boxes by making "stairs" out of the boxes. I did not realize how dangerous this was at the time because it was my first job and did not even think twice about it until now.

Working Safely

By jr
I work in a lab and safety is very important and a top priority

Hot car

By Scott
While working at my family's garage, my uncle asked me to do some work on his car. In order to get at the car, I had to move another car that was in the way. Unknown to me, the carb on that car had been removed and when I went to start it up, it backfired and started on fire. I didn't know where the fire extinguisher was and it was a tense few minutes before help arrived and the fire was put out.

Hearing Problems

By Marc Greene
I was working a job where there was lots of heavy machinery and a big team environment. I had an ear infection and hearing is a crucial part in this high stress environment. I felt uncomfortable and told my boss that I didn't think it was safe for me to be in that environment. They were upset because they were losing a worker for multiple days and needed to find a replacement. I thought my health and safety was more important than their inconvenience. I went home and wasn't happy with the situation I had been put in. Health and safety always comes first!

Too Heavy!

By Lori L.
I was almost 9 months pregnant when a co-worker asked me to get a case of legal sized paper to fill the printer. I offered to bring a ream (1 package) instead but they insisted I bring a whole case. I refused to do so and they were frustrated but I wasn't about to throw out my back or pull a muscle a week before giving birth.

Working Safe

By pmr
I am staying home and not working these days but both my kids work and I hope they are smart enough to say no to an unsafe situation

Company Service Pick Up Point

By Gliadine May
In one of the previous companies I worked with, it was part on the contract that I have to be picked and dropped close to the area where I live. In a fast-paced city with so many vehicles along the road during peak hours, the Operations Department would want all employees using the company service to reach the office at least 5 minutes before 8AM. In order to do that, they have to strategically designate a pick up and drop off point for each employee in the most efficient route.In order for the driver to reach me, he has to deviate from the main road route by taking a right and left turns, U-turn and two right turns to get back to the main road to pick the next employee. That is almost 10,825 feet (approx 3.29 kilometers). One day, the Operations Supervisor called me to discuss a proposal to shorten the driver's route to cut a few minutes of travel time to the office. I was eager to hear the alternative so I went immediately to see him. His proposal was for me to get to the other side of the road so that the driver doesn't have to make a U-turn anymore. I said I will think about his proposal and let him know of my thoughts. His idea might sound great but when I looked through Google Earth after the discussion, I noticed that there was no pedestrian crossing within the 3,200 feet (approx 0.975 kilometer) stretch of the road with 3 lanes on each direction totaling to 6 lanes. I mentioned to him that there is no pedestrian crossing for me go directly across the street. The only option is to use the pedestrian crossings situated on each side of the block which will take me about 3,011 feet (approx 0.92 kilometer) to walk. Might be a good morning exercise but walking in heeled shoes, all dressed up, under the intense heat of the sun by average 37 degrees Celsius at 7AM was not a great way to do it. He went on and suggested that it is okay to directly cross the street even without the pedestrian crossing. I answered him, "I will have to discuss your proposal with the HSE Manager. If he approves that I can cross the street without the pedestrian crossing and chasing my way across the 6 lane busy road, I will." He then finally said, "Alright, we will pick you up at the same stop."

Chemicals are dangerous

By E.R.
Once a coworker unknowingly put too much bleach in the bleach water bucket used to clean tables at the restaurant I work at. Needless to say after cleaning tables a couple times one shift I left with very sore, painful, red hands. Learn from my mistake and always use litmus strips to test the water before you use it, even if you're in a rush!

Finger incident

By LM
I was 14 working at a pizza shop owned by my friends parents. I world with 2 of my other friends doing prep work for the store. We were cutting peppers with a chopping device and I accidentally put my finger under the chopper as I went down and sliced my finger. I told my boss and all they did was give me a band aid and didn't make any record of it mind you we were only 14 but still something should have been done

Lifting

By Jenna
I was at work and I was asked by my box to lift some heavy boxes into a high shelf with and unsafe ladder and no instructions I simply refused because I knew nothing good would come out of it

Tractor repair

By Cameron
My brother and I worked for a chicken farmer who wanted us to help him with his tractor PTO but we decided not to because it looked dangerous and we did not know anything about PTO's.