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
Make us preferred on Google

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

A split screen of Jeff Bezos on stage at a panel and Dolly Parton on a red carpet.
Chesnot / Contributor;Getty Imges/ Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images

Jeff Bezos Called Out For Hypocritical Post Praising Dolly Parton's 'Generosity'—And We're Shaking Our Heads

The world is still in mourning following the death of Dolly Parton this past Tuesday.

In addition to President Trump declaring that flags in the U.S. will fly at half-mast for one week, countless people have taken to social media to pay homage to the beloved singer, actress, and philanthropist.

Keep ReadingShow less
Cameron Brink; Enes Kanter Freedom
@BrickCenter_/X; Joseph Weiser/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

WNBA Star Bluntly Rips Anti-Trans Former NBA Player Over His Bigoted Antics in Viral Video—And She's Totally Right

WNBA star Cameron Brink has blasted former NBA player Enes Kanter Freedom, who changed his name after becoming a United States citizen, over his transphobic antics.

Kanter Freedom, a Turkish national who moved to the U.S. to play high school basketball, had an unremarkable NBA career playing for five different teams—twice switching between the Boston Celtics and Portland Trailblazers, for a total of seven NBA team changes in 11 years in the league. He's had no major endorsement deals, claiming he was "blacklisted."

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshot of Dylan Crawford during MS NOW interview
MS NOW

Young MAGA Voter Who Is 'Struggling For My Life' Goes Viral With His NSFW Message For Trump

Dylan Crawford, an Iowa MAGA voter who is struggling with the affordability crisis after graduating from high school, went viral after swearing at President Donald Trump when asked what he would say if he could speak to the president.

The interview comes as the rising cost of living becomes difficult to ignore for the overwhelming majority of Americans. Consumer sentiment fell sharply in August, according to data released earlier this month by the University of Michigan that found that older and lower-income Americans are particularly affected by elevated fuel prices.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshot of Byron Donalds
@AGGancarski/X

GOP Candidate Slammed After Sharing Absurdly Sexist Reason Why Roads Should Be Repaired

Florida Republican Representative Byron Donalds was called out after making a sexist remark at a campaign rally about why women need roads to be fixed.

Donalds is currently campaigning for Florida's governorship. He is President Donald Trump's preferred candidate in Florida and would be the state's first Black governor if elected to succeed the term-limited Ron DeSantis.

Keep ReadingShow less
Pete Davidson attends SNL50: The Homecoming Concert at Radio City Music Hall.
Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images

Pete Davidson Was Spotted Wearing Blue Contacts And A Wig While Filming A New Movie—And He Looks Low-Key Terrifying

Pete Davidson put in some blue contacts, threw on a wig, and somehow emerged looking like the guy you absolutely do not want making prolonged eye contact with you on the subway.

It all went down when Davidson was photographed on August 25 in costume for his new movie, Tommy Karate, in which he plays notorious, martial arts-trained Bonanno crime family enforcer Thomas "Tommy Karate" Pitera.

Keep ReadingShow less