Dumb work injuries

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Can’t show a picture but the image will stay burned in my brain forever. Some years ago I was at the local knife emporium with a lovely young lady who was showing me knives from their magnetic wall strips. While returning one knife to the strip she inadvertently knocked an adjacent knife from the strip. Without thinking she reached with her right hand to catch the falling knife. She caught it all right in mid air … by the handle. It was pure luck that she avoided the blade. I nearly fainted and will never forget the image of this gal reaching for the falling knife. Still makes the hair stand up on the back of my neck. On another subject … how many of us perform our knife arts in the kitchen while wearing sandals? … beware the falling knife.
 
Brian Weekley said:
Can’t show a picture but the image will stay burned in my brain forever. Some years ago I was at the local knife emporium with a lovely young lady who was showing me knives from their magnetic wall strips. While returning one knife to the strip she inadvertently knocked an adjacent knife from the strip. Without thinking she reached with her right hand to catch the falling knife. She caught it all right in mid air … by the handle. It was pure luck that she avoided the blade. I nearly fainted and will never forget the image of this gal reaching for the falling knife. Still makes the hair stand up on the back of my neck. On another subject … how many of us perform our knife arts in the kitchen while wearing sandals? … beware the falling knife.
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At home, I'm almost always barefoot in the kitchen. I think about it often... right after I'm finished, where the thought is "that was colossally stupid."
 
big_adventure said:
At home, I'm almost always barefoot in the kitchen. I think about it often... right after I'm finished, where the thought is "that was colossally stupid."
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Depends on the circumstances really. A lot of life is just dumb luck. The one time that I dumped ten gallons of boiling water down my shoes I would have rather been barefoot than wearing my lace-up slip resistant work boots. I couldn't get them off for several minutes and it made the burns much worse. Nowadays my feet have gotten bad enough from other stuff that I can only wear orthopedic sneakers. Not exactly the safest. And not really a good role model for my cooks. But you gotta do what you gotta do. I just make sure there's good mats down everywhere.
 
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I toured on my Harley’s for years in a half helmet, t-shirt and blue jeans. People use to say “what if you fall over” … I used to reply that “I make a point of not falling over”. We all pick our risks! Fortunately in Canada somebody else picks up the bills if we stab our foot with a falling knife or remove the skin on our backsides with asphalt.
 
ian said:
Eh, whatev. Just don’t drop knives on your feet. :)
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Wait, wait, you're not supposed to drop them on your feet? Damnit. I've been doing it wrong all this time.

stringer said:
Depends on the circumstances really. A lot of life is just dumb luck. The one time that I dumped ten gallons of boiling water down my shoes I would have rather been barefoot than wearing my lace-up slip resistant work boots. I couldn't get them off for several minutes and it made the burns much worse. Nowadays my feet have gotten bad enough from other stuff that I can only wear orthopedic sneakers. Not exactly the safest. And not really a good role for my cooks. But you gotta do what you gotta do. I just make sure there's good mats down everywhere.
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Indeed it is. I can think of a dozen injuries I've suffered that were bad luck, and a dozen more than I've survived harm-free purely on good luck.
 
Brian Weekley said:
I toured on my Harley’s for years in a half helmet, t-shirt and blue jeans. People use to say “what if you fall over” … I used to reply that “I make a point of not falling over”. We all pick our risks! Fortunately in Canada somebody else picks up the bills if we stab our foot with a falling knife or remove the skin on our backsides with asphalt.
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I mean, yeah on that last point (same thing here in France of course), and I'll assume you're being glib and not just another unnecessary weight on the system. ;)
 
Warning: pictures therein not for the faint of heart.

Dumb "work" injury?
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Freshly thin and sharp Mabs, somewhere back in April. It basically took ten seconds before it started bleeding. A week later it was a twice smaller reddish crust. Shed it a couple days later. Once tended to, didn't bothered me out of finishing my prep and the supper.


"Dumb work" injury?

A glass wine broke in my hand as I lowered it out of sight into the soapy water in my sink. Didn't bump on anything that I detected, it just basically shattered. When I took my hand out of the water, the biggest shard still attached to the bottom of the glass was also embedded into my finger, sticking out the other side. The whole thing stupidly hung there midair for a split second before going to crash on the floor. And there I was profusely gushing blood already with shards everywhere around me.

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This was beginning of July. It took about three weeks before I could get through a day without a band aid. To this day, I still have a desensitized area that somewhat stings depending on pressure exerted there. Some slight deformation/swelling.

Took two days before I could hold a knife steady without wincing from sheer pain. Four days before I could get back to sharpening.

I did clean the whole kitchen and finished the dishes that very night though - once I could make out a path through shards and blood to get to the bathroom and slow the bleeding enough to have a temporary patch holding and not getting immediately drenched in blood. Took a while.
 
I didn't do this at work but just this weekend I was oiling up a couple Wa handles that were looking dry and managed to stab directly into the end of my finger. Blood everywhere and my wife standing next to me just shaking her head. She asked what I was cutting I had to admit I was just playing with my knives. More head shaking. Took about an hour for the bleeding to stop and even typing this reminds me that it smarted just a little :)
 
tomsch said:
I didn't do this at work but just this weekend I was oiling up a couple Wa handles that were looking dry and managed to stab directly into the end of my finger. Blood everywhere and my wife standing next to me just shaking her head. She asked what I was cutting I had to admit I was just playing with my knives. More head shaking. Took about an hour for the bleeding to stop and even typing this reminds me that it smarted just a little :)
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I can relate, it seems like whenever I nick myself with one of my knives it is doing almost anything except using them, including washing, drying, moving them out of the way casually but not giving them full attention, and otherwise-but-not-cutting-with-them!
 
tomsch said:
I didn't do this at work but just this weekend I was oiling up a couple Wa handles that were looking dry and managed to stab directly into the end of my finger. Blood everywhere and my wife standing next to me just shaking her head. She asked what I was cutting I had to admit I was just playing with my knives. More head shaking. Took about an hour for the bleeding to stop and even typing this reminds me that it smarted just a little :)
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chefwp said:
I can relate, it seems like whenever I nick myself with one of my knives it is doing almost anything except using them, including washing, drying, moving them out of the way casually but not giving them full attention, and otherwise-but-not-cutting-with-them!
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Oh yeah, every freaking time. I never, ever cut myself when I'm actually cutting. I did 30 years ago when I worked in a kitchen, but definitely not now. That said, I've cut myself several times reaching for a knife on the board but not looking at it, trying to catch one that slips, all of that stupidity. I've cut myself pretty horribly like that. The disadvantage of knives sharp enough for eye surgery, I suppose.
 
stringer said:
I reached for a little petty without looking too close. It was in an edge protector but I don't notice the heel sticking out a bit. Doesn't look like much but it's deep. Took forever to stop bleeding.

View attachment 153179
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ModRQC said:
Warning: pictures therein not for the faint of heart.

Dumb "work" injury?
View attachment 145036

Freshly thin and sharp Mabs, somewhere back in April. It basically took ten seconds before it started bleeding. A week later it was a twice smaller reddish crust. Shed it a couple days later. Once tended to, didn't bothered me out of finishing my prep and the supper.


"Dumb work" injury?

A glass wine broke in my hand as I lowered it out of sight into the soapy water in my sink. Didn't bump on anything that I detected, it just basically shattered. When I took my hand out of the water, the biggest shard still attached to the bottom of the glass was also embedded into my finger, sticking out the other side. The whole thing stupidly hung there midair for a split second before going to crash on the floor. And there I was profusely gushing blood already with shards everywhere around me.

View attachment 145037View attachment 145038View attachment 145039

This was beginning of July. It took about three weeks before I could get through a day without a band aid. To this day, I still have a desensitized area that somewhat stings depending on pressure exerted there. Some slight deformation/swelling.

Took two days before I could hold a knife steady without wincing from sheer pain. Four days before I could get back to sharpening.

I did clean the whole kitchen and finished the dishes that very night though - once I could make out a path through shards and blood to get to the bathroom and slow the bleeding enough to have a temporary patch holding and not getting immediately drenched in blood. Took a while.
Click to expand...
 
stringer said:
Took forever to stop bleeding.
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Your skin has that bloody wrinkly look... as if it has been bandaged in a pool of blood for a while! Puncture wounds suck.

Keep pressure on both sides so it doesn't keep reopening and you'll be back to picking your nose in no time 😋
 
stringer said:
I reached for a little petty without looking too close. It was in an edge protector but I don't notice the heel sticking out a bit. Doesn't look like much but it's deep. Took forever to stop bleeding.

View attachment 153179
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That's how I cut myself basically 100% of the time. It's always "not paying attention", never actually cutting. Stupid stupid stupid.
 
cooktocut said:
Putting this here for whoever needs it...

Best bandages hands down are hydrocolloid gel bandages.
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second that, but mainly for bigger and open wounds (after skin removal) and only if you leave them on long enough!
Other than that, superglue rocks!

doing 'something' with a knife other than cutting is a sure winner for me too...yet as a home cook and ergular desk jockey paper cuts are my biggest professional risk.
 
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MarcelNL said:
second that, but mainly for bigger and open wounds (after skin removal) and only if you leave them on long enough!
Other than that, superglue rocks!
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I went drunk scootering on a vacation last year (don't drink and scoot folks, you're not gonna have a fun time) and completely ate it at full speed. Ripped the palms of both my hands open on the gravel, among other things. Not scratches, deep gouges. Put those bandages on and I kid you not, I took them off 7 days later to pink skin, pretty much completely healed. Only trick is getting them to stay on (i alcohol off the site beforehand). It's surprising how many people still think you're supposed to let wounds air out.
 
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Luftmensch said:
You can't leave us hanging... gotta be a story there!
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Bear said:
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My prep cook came up to me, asking for a sharp knife. Actually "a sharp ass knife". So I assumed, wrongly, she needed to cut something thinly. Well....."BBBOOOOOOOO!! LLLIIIAAAARRRR!!!" used the handle to smash some lemongrass.
 
M1k3 said:
My prep cook came up to me, asking for a sharp knife. Actually "a sharp ass knife". So I assumed, wrongly, she needed to cut something thinly. Well....."BBBOOOOOOOO!! LLLIIIAAAARRRR!!!" used the handle to smash some lemongrass.
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Not the sharpest recipe in the book, that one... 🤷‍♂️
 
M1k3 said:
My prep cook came up to me, asking for a sharp knife. Actually "a sharp ass knife". So I assumed, wrongly, she needed to cut something thinly. Well....."BBBOOOOOOOO!! LLLIIIAAAARRRR!!!" used the handle to smash some lemongrass.
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Temporary handle installed. Very forward balanced now.. ****ing prep cook 😐
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