Every job has its hazard, I grew up before I understood this. As a kid, some jobs were perfect for us; we thought some jobs were completely safe and you can't encounter any harm while performing your duties.
I have worked in so many places and the printing press is one place that taught me the biggest lesson even though I never got a serious injury while working there, my injuries only left bruises from paper cuts on my skin but I have seen the first-grade injury that taught me lessons. I will like to talk about them before going into detail about the injury I got from work.
Printing press are filled with printing, cutting, and many other machines, they are usually heavy ones. These machines are big enough to rip hands off with a single mistake and they made me realize that you can't be too careful in your line of duty, you have to always exercise safety caution and be careful every minute.
You can never be perfect as a machine operator, machines don't have senses, and since they depend on us to function then you will always take the blame no matter the damage it causes.
I have had so many experiences and I will just tell the one with a lesser gory view. I was at work that day and we heard noise from the Kord section in the factory (Kord is a printing machine, it was a single color printer and I don't know if there are multiple colors of it now).
An operator was working when the power went off, he tried to adjust something in the machine quickly before they put on the generator but unfortunately for him, power was restored. His right hand was in the machine so the damper locked it in and began to roll it in, the machine was hot because it had been working for hours before the incident.
This machine rolls in one direction and can't be reversed, his hand was locked and he couldn't reach the off switch; he should have switched it off first. The machine had rolled him in to his upper arm before someone could help, the machine didn't rip his hand off but it was rendered useless. He got burned from the heat, the damper space was tight and the machine forcefully squeezed the hand into the tight space which caused a tear that made him bleed.
He was in serious pain and by the time the machine was dismantled, he passed out. Thank God he was revived at the hospital but nothing could be done to restore the hand for proper use.
Being careful doesn't end with jobs that have to do with operating machines, we must be always careful regardless of the kind of work we are doing. A caterer can get burned for carelessness, a cashier can run into debt, and every job comes with hazards but being careful always can help you avoid them.
My case was different, I don't think it was carelessness but I know for sure that I lacked patience when it comes to commuting while working. I hate staying too long at the bus stop and it is one of the reasons I don't choose a bus stop as a meeting point because I get pissed off for no reason when standing there too long.
I worked as a supervisor then and my job required me to cover a large distance every day I spend most of my day visiting distributors and customers to know how my sales representatives are doing. On that fateful day, I was doing my normal daily routine. I was at the bus stop for a long time waiting for a bike or cab but the crowd was too much, and the vehicles get filled up before I even get to them.
I got very tired and luckily for me a company bike showed up, the rider was going around doing his job so I stopped him and requested that he took me to where I was going. He was reluctant but I persuaded him, the bike had a box which made two people sitting on it very uncomfortable and I felt it was the best choice for me but it is an offense to carry someone when you have a box attached to your bike.
The journey was going smoothly until we got to a place where we will make a U-turn, there was this mad driver who was making a turn as well and he almost ran into us.
In an attempt to avoid the hit, the bike rider swayed too much and we were on the floor, it could have been a different story if a vehicle was coming behind us.
The rider got a little scratch, thanks to his gears. I got bruises on my arm and my trouser got torn on the knee in the exact spot I landed on, I eventually didn't continue with work that day because the knee I landed on was hurting me after the incident.
I called HR and inform him but I had to lie about the incident, I was grounded the second day as well. The incident got me thinking, what if I lost my leg, what if another vehicle rammed into us after we fell? I might not have lived to tell this story.
I learned to be patient and not to place work over my well being, the bike had minor damage and the repair cost me more than my transport fare if I was patient, I learned my lessons and didn't take such risks again.
The company could have sacked me and the rider if they got to know plus I could have affected someone's life badly. If I had died, they would still have blamed me and hired someone else to replace me not knowing that I was only too dedicated to my duty as a supervisor for the company's growth.
