Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

People Describe The Worst Workplace Accidents They've Ever Witnessed

ambulance
A first responder ambulance parked outside of Ann Taylor Loft in China Town, Washington DC during the Coronavirus pandemic. Credit: @upgradeur_life www.instagram.com/upgradeur_life

Not everyone has the luxury of working in a safe environment.

Rather poignantly, most of the essential workers, who continued to report to work as the world shut down during the pandemic, often had to report to very dangerous conditions.

And while we'd like to think that the people who are responsible for ensuring the safety and well-being of these employees will make sure nothing happens to them, that simply isn't always the case.

As many people have witnessed, truly horrific accidents take place at work more frequently than we think.


Redditor Andyman_11 was curious to hear about the absolute worst workplace accidents people have witnessed, leading them to ask:
"What's the worst accident that happened at your workplace?"

As If One Time Wasn't Bad Enough

"Not my story, but my dad told me it."

"A man got his arm stuck in a machine, which degloved his arm."

"After he recovered, he was showing the safety people how it happened, and he accidentally degloved his other arm."- nugget_the_third3

Before You Eat Those Fries...

"Working at McDonalds, a girl slipped walking past a deep fryer and her hand went deep into the fryer."

"The manager wrapped her hand in a cloth, when she pulled it off to put in water all of her skin came off."

"We were still made to work so we walked off, they were even happy to keep using the fryer after it!"- Reasonable_Slice5324

Sometimes It's Their Own Fault

"Working for a specialized trucking company, a fellow driver lost control fully loaded going down a winding mountain road."

'The truck tipped over, slid across 2 lanes of oncoming traffic and landed in a field."

"Truck and trailer were absolutely demolished, cab was flattened, and the driver (a huge MFer) crawled out the back window without a scratch."

"$400k unit wasn’t even recognizable."

"Guy was fired when insurance pulled the ECM out of the rig and found he was going over 100kmh around a 50kmh corner and didn’t even touch the brakes."- Barquebe

"Man fell 75 feet due to standing on the wrong side of the pipe he was cutting."

"You ever see those cartoons where they cut the branch while standing on the branch?"

"He was cutting from inside and everyone thinks he just got disoriented."- R3DLOTU5·

Bizarre After Effects

"Guy fell 15’ and landed on his head."

"He lived."

"It fixed his lazy eye and he’s still with the company."

"He became very irritable, has violent outbursts and is a lil psychotic but otherwise perfectly ok."- Oneinsevenbillion75

Choose Your Smoking Breaks Wisely

"Had a corn starch dust explosion at a previous job."

"And no it's not previous because I caused it lol."

"A truly stupid guy decided he'd sneak a cigarette break in basically the worst place he could."

"He came very close to death for his stupidity and could have taken others with him, but thankfully he was the only one seriously injured when the dust went boom."

"That night I was pretty far from the boom area doing vacuum decay testing on completed bags of sugar substitute."

"I was uninjured, but it definitely scared the sh*t out of me."- LaReinaTormenta

They Call It Protective Gear For A Reason

"Teenage girl cut off her finger after refusing to wear the cut proof glove because 'it was ugly'."

"Follow safety protocols folks."- the-cosmic-kraken

So Many People's Worst Nightmares

"When I worked at a grocery store a guy lost his thumb in the meat slicer."

"Worst part is, because of the blade it went flying and they couldn’t find it soon enough to reattach."

'Deli was closed for 24 hours."- Mryan7600

Not Always Causing Physical Harm

"Worked in a grocery store as a teenager."

'My coworker (and still friend) was lowering a huge pallet of 1L apple juice tetra packs and the whole thing tipped from like 20ft up."

"Thousands of liters of apple juice flooded the whole back of the store."

"It was super hot that day and it just smelled like intense hot apple juice."

'We had the worst ant problem forever."

"Thankfully nobody was hurt but what a godawful mess."- permacloud

Wearing Your Hair Up Is As Stylish As It Is Safe

"A girl with long hair leaned down to check something near a fast rotating piece of machinery and got it caught."

"It ripped a good chunk of her scalp out."- EntertainerOk9552

Don't Rely On Workman's Comp

"At Walmart, an assistant manager had a heart attack in the break room."

"When she was taken away and treated she disappeared from work for months, and when she finally came back."

"Walmart management decided to put her outside in the hot California summer heat to be a greeter."

"When she refused they didn’t care and she quit."

"Every single person on my team was saying they probably did it on purpose and wanted her to quit."

"Really f*cked up and it’s probably true."- Filthy_pilgrim

At Least He Was A Good Sport...

"I watched a guy, who pinned his safety guard back on his Skill saw with a nail, lay the still spinning blade right into the meat of his thigh."

"It went right in."

"I almost passed out when he yanked it out. "

"He was in shock and laughing about how the blade was so hot it cauterized the cut, so not much blood."

"He then got into his yellow Bronco with a bad clutch and drove himself to the hospital."- Spodson

Why Updates And Refurbishments Are Necessary

"Hydraulic ferry doors were forced open to let cars out, pins snapped and doors slammed shut on an employee."

"They survived but it wasn’t pretty."- PlantBagWood

Texting While Moving Is Dangerous

"A crew was walking a plane out to the flight line and a guy got his bottom half squished underneath the wheels."

"Texting and not paying attention was suspected to be the cause but that’s not confirmed."- niciswan

"Safety First" should not simply be a warning or guideline for employees to follow.

But rather a basic standard for any workplace putting their employees in dangerous situations to uphold.


More from Trending/best-of-reddit

Car lights on a dark street
black car on road during night time
Photo by Christian Lue on Unsplash

The Scariest 'We Need To Leave, Now!' Experiences People Have Ever Had

We all have memories of a scary experience we would much rather not have in our memories.

Experiences such as horrific turbulence on a flight or waiting for a loved one in a life-or-death surgery, where there simply was no getting out of.

Keep Reading Show less
A parking machine, with a care parallel parked on the street behind it.
black car parked on sidewalk during daytime

People Reveal The Secret Loopholes They Exploited Until They Finally Got Fixed

Who wouldn't take an easy route around an everyday inconvenience.

It's hard to imagine anyone would say no to anything that would save them time or money.

Keep Reading Show less
JD Vance; Picture of Renee Nicole Good at vigil
Celai Gunes/Anadolu via Getty Images; Scott Olson/Getty Images

JD Vance Slammed After Baselessly Claiming Woman Killed By ICE In Minneapolis Was A 'Deranged Leftist'

Vice President JD Vance was criticized after he claimed without evidence that Renee Nicole Good—the woman fatally shot by an ICE agent in Minneapolis on Wednesday—was a "deranged leftist."

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin claimed Good “weaponized her vehicle, attempting to run over our law enforcement officers in an attempt to kill them.” But Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey pushed back against this narrative considering witnesses described seeing Good in the vehicle trying to flee officers when she was shot.

Keep Reading Show less

People Break Down Which Careers Are A Total Relationship Turn-Off

Not every job is a desirable job to a romantic partner.

Even in this day and age, where people are scrambling to find any kind of job, potential romantic partners are compiling a 'not going to happen with me because of what you do list!'"

Keep Reading Show less
Nicotine pouches now appearing in vending machines
John Keeble/Getty Images

Tech Companies Spark Backlash After Adding Nicotine Pouch Vending Machines As Office 'Perk'

More vacation time. More maternity, paternity, and sick leave. Walking paths and healthy snacks provided for free. Mental health break rooms and emotional support office dogs.

These are great examples of "office perks" that would encourage people to return to an in-office setting.

Keep Reading Show less