My first job was in the home seasonal department of Superstore, so I didn’t think it was important to listen to the “Be careful, your workplace can be dangerous!” speech. However, what I learned was it was never the giant garbage crusher or chemicals that were dangerous. It was the mundane hazards that sent me to the first-aid kit time and time again.
The biggest hazard in my current workplace is the crooked receipt spike. It slants about an inch from the top because it was once used to pry open a jammed door. There isn’t a shift that goes by that I don’t stab my hand on it. Turns out the worst occupational hazards are the ordinary things you didn’t think could hurt you, like slicing your finger with a box cutter — or worse, the box (imagine a paper cut but five times worse) — and cash register drawers. So I suppose the takeaway here is to always be aware of where the nearest first-aid kit is.
Image: Simer Haer/The Cascade
