All jokes aside, your job can be extremely traumatic. And not in a “my mean boss and passive-aggressive coworkers are annoying and sometimes steal my lunch” kind of way. Accidents, truly toxic colleagues, false accusations, and distressing situations can catch you unaware and scar you for life.
Employees who have seen nightmarish, chilling things while at work opened up about their terrifying experiences in a brutally honest online thread. You’ll find their candid stories below.
#1
Formerly worked at a residential group home (my wife and I)
Context: while we were employees my wife was pregnant and kicked in the lower abdomen by a client. Suffered a miscarriage.
The director and myself had a disagreement (he was a narcissist). We told him that we would like to adopt a client (5 year old) out of the group home. He did not like that because when the clients are adopted or moved the facility loses funding. He resorted to yelling at me and looked my wife square in the eyes and said “how about next time you get pregnant, don’t let it die? Hmm? Think you could do that? If so, we won’t have to have conversations like this.”
First time I ever spent the night in jail, and the first time he ever had a broken nose and eye socket.
Worth it!
Context: while we were employees my wife was pregnant and kicked in the lower abdomen by a client. Suffered a miscarriage.
The director and myself had a disagreement (he was a narcissist). We told him that we would like to adopt a client (5 year old) out of the group home. He did not like that because when the clients are adopted or moved the facility loses funding. He resorted to yelling at me and looked my wife square in the eyes and said “how about next time you get pregnant, don’t let it die? Hmm? Think you could do that? If so, we won’t have to have conversations like this.”
First time I ever spent the night in jail, and the first time he ever had a broken nose and eye socket.
Worth it!
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67points
Traumatic workplace events are, unfortunately, far from rare. According to the Royal College of Psychiatrists, around a third of adults in England said that they have experienced at least one major traumatic event during their lifetime. Furthermore, roughly one in 20 English adults is likely to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder.
There are different ways that you can be exposed to traumatic events. For example, they might happen to you directly, you witnessed them happening to someone else, you learned about them from others, or you narrowly avoided tragedy. Furthermore, you can be exposed to traumatic events through media, including movies, TV, social media, and images.
#2
Had a guest at a hotel borderline stalk me for being nice (my professional side is very understanding and happy). He did so for about 3 months before he faked a door problem and attempted to drag me into his room to do god knows what. I broke lose from his grip, got to safety and called two managers 1 who happened fo be the owner. The owner said the dude did it because I was so nice to him and was leading him on.
I told him good luck finding converage and that I quit.
I told him good luck finding converage and that I quit.
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39points
#3
Was working a graveyard shift at a Comcast (May have been ATT at the time) call center. There were TVs everywhere with movies on, as there weren’t many calls at midnight. Suddenly all of the TVs shift to a channel change, down to one of the paid [adult] channels. My coworkers and I spot this, and start chanting ‘click it click it’. The click goes through, then the ‘do you accept the charges’ comes up. We chant again and wonder of wonders it goes through. Suddenly there’s a full spread on every television in the call center. We spot two managers running full tilt across the cubicles, and shortly after it got shut off.
Apparently the security guard thought the TV at his station was just for him.
Apparently the security guard thought the TV at his station was just for him.
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29points
Depending on your vocation, you can run a higher risk of being exposed to traumatic events. For instance, emergency service workers, social workers, healthcare professionals, military personnel, train drivers, and professional online content moderators are more likely to experience these events at work.
After being the victim of or witnessing workplace trauma, you have to be willing to give yourself time to recover from it. “It might take a while for you to accept what has happened or to learn to live with it. If someone has died or you have lost something significant to you, you might also need to grieve. Try not to put pressure on yourself to feel better straight away,” the Royal College of Psychiatrists stresses.
Even though you might want to avoid talking about the event, the healthy thing to do is to open up about both it and your feelings. Avoidance makes you feel worse. Moreover, being open can help you become more resilient.
#4
I was the boss and some guy wasn’t paying attention and had his arm on the bar behind him on the forklift he was backing up. He backed up right into a container and all but severed his arm. Just a small flap of skin was holding it on. He ran in the building spurting blood all over and I ran over and stopped him, sat him down and got one of the guys to get me some stuff for an improvised tourniquet. I held his severed arm under mine and I squeezed the upper arm to slow the flow until I could get the tourniquet on and tight. All the while I was getting covered in his blood from head to toe.
I finally got it stopped and sat there trying to keep him calm while the paramedics were on the way. After they took over, I asked the firemen that accompanied them if they could blast me off with the firehose. They blasted all the blood off but my clothes were ruined. I sat outside until I dried and then went home and showered well and threw the stained clothes away. I got dressed and went back to work to help the crew clean up the blood and toss the chair he was in in the trash.
I could taste his blood the rest of the day. It even got up my nose! I didn’t notice until I went home again but my mustache and goatee were stained from the blood too. I had to shave clean.
They were able to reattach his arm but it never worked right again. He went on permanent disability afterwards.
I finally got it stopped and sat there trying to keep him calm while the paramedics were on the way. After they took over, I asked the firemen that accompanied them if they could blast me off with the firehose. They blasted all the blood off but my clothes were ruined. I sat outside until I dried and then went home and showered well and threw the stained clothes away. I got dressed and went back to work to help the crew clean up the blood and toss the chair he was in in the trash.
I could taste his blood the rest of the day. It even got up my nose! I didn’t notice until I went home again but my mustache and goatee were stained from the blood too. I had to shave clean.
They were able to reattach his arm but it never worked right again. He went on permanent disability afterwards.
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28points
#5
Working as a bouncer in the UK on my own on a Tuesday evening at a pub on Poole Quay. Stood on the front door, took a swig of coffee and looked inside.
There was a guy on his back on a table with another guy over him so I ran in to break up the situation. As I get closer it looks like the guy on top is kissing the other guy.
Nope, he was biting a chunk out of his lip. Had to radio for town camera team to call police whilst I kicked the guy out, then patched up the profusely bleeding guy. (Pro first aid tip - use cling film for heavily bleeding wounds as it won't stick and cause further damage when you take the dressing off)
The victim was pretty calm, his female friend was a hysterical mess.
A year later I saw the hungry guy again - and he recognized me.
Amazingly he thanked me for getting him arrested and said that he was out of control at the time and after going to prison he'd sorted his life out and was back on track to being a normal, non cannibalistic human again...
There was a guy on his back on a table with another guy over him so I ran in to break up the situation. As I get closer it looks like the guy on top is kissing the other guy.
Nope, he was biting a chunk out of his lip. Had to radio for town camera team to call police whilst I kicked the guy out, then patched up the profusely bleeding guy. (Pro first aid tip - use cling film for heavily bleeding wounds as it won't stick and cause further damage when you take the dressing off)
The victim was pretty calm, his female friend was a hysterical mess.
A year later I saw the hungry guy again - and he recognized me.
Amazingly he thanked me for getting him arrested and said that he was out of control at the time and after going to prison he'd sorted his life out and was back on track to being a normal, non cannibalistic human again...
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26points
#6
Superintendent of a construction project refused to tie himself in whenever he was on top of the building. On the very last day of the project, as the crew is cleaning up, he slips and falls 100 feet. The only fatality at our company and it sucks because it was really preventable too.
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23points
It is important to reach out to others who have experienced the same traumas as you, even if they reacted to similar events differently. You shouldn’t compare your reactions and recovery to those of other individuals. In other words, there is no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ way to react to traumatic events.
Aside from peer support and support groups, you can try reaching out to family, friends, and other people in your life whom you trust. They can offer you emotional support and a sense of normalcy in your life. Staying social is good for your mental health, even if your initial urge might be to isolate yourself.
Meanwhile, seriously consider seeking professional help if you are constantly feeling distressed, and if your quality of life has suffered and isn’t improving. Try to choose a therapist who has a background in working with trauma.
#7
One of the printers briefly stopped thinking for like 30 seconds, went to clean a roller while the machine was operating at a high speed, and half of his finger got tore off. After he went to hospital, my brother went over to run the machine through to get the blood out and the other half of the finger came out and fell in ink tray.
21points
#8
Worked at a coffee house and a customers baby went blue while she was ordering.
He was chocking on a cookie she gave him , the dad started the heimlich maneuver and cpr while i called 911 and ran to the parking lot to get the emts to the coffee place on time because they got lost ( its was in a big shopping mall) and NO ONE WANTED TO GO HELP THE EMTS FIDE THE PLACE !!
I literally grabbed them by the hand and dragged them to the baby through the crowd of like 50 people so they can save the baby.
My boss drove to the hospital , gave her her food for free and added more sweets for her and gave her a 100$ coupon as a gift , he was so nice .
He later told me that if i haven’t dragged the emts to the baby he would have passed away from oxygen loss and they got there seconds away from a horrible outcome.
I cried in the back room for 30 min and my boss told us to go home and rest.
He was chocking on a cookie she gave him , the dad started the heimlich maneuver and cpr while i called 911 and ran to the parking lot to get the emts to the coffee place on time because they got lost ( its was in a big shopping mall) and NO ONE WANTED TO GO HELP THE EMTS FIDE THE PLACE !!
I literally grabbed them by the hand and dragged them to the baby through the crowd of like 50 people so they can save the baby.
My boss drove to the hospital , gave her her food for free and added more sweets for her and gave her a 100$ coupon as a gift , he was so nice .
He later told me that if i haven’t dragged the emts to the baby he would have passed away from oxygen loss and they got there seconds away from a horrible outcome.
I cried in the back room for 30 min and my boss told us to go home and rest.
20points
#9
I’m a nurse in an understaffed facility. Every day is a horror story.
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19points
This is an extremely sensitive topic, but if you feel like you want to share your personal experiences and warnings, you’re always welcome to open up in the comments.
What are the most horrible things that have ever happened to you or that you’ve witnessed while at work? What helped you heal and move on from what happened? What advice would you give to anyone who has just experienced something traumatic at work?
#10
Many years ago, I was a teacher at a very fancy, rich highschool. The kind of place where politicians sent their kids. Most of the students were either taken to and from school by chauffeurs, or boarded.
During a sports event, one kid suddenly had a seizure. He wasn't concussed or anything; he'd just been sitting and watching at the time. There was a flurry of teachers variously keeping other children back, moving chairs out of the way so he didn't hit his head, calling an ambulance, first aid, all of that. Of course, once the immediate danger has passed and he was in the recovery position, his parents were called. Due to the emergency, their family's staff let the call go through to the father directly.
"Mr. Parent, this is Son's Teacher at School. Your Son is okay now, but he's just had a seizure. An ambulance is--"
Father: "No, he didn't."
"He... Um, sorry? I don't think I was clear. Your son had a seizure. He's recov--"
Father: "No, my son has never had a seizure. Good day."
And he hung up.
Talking to the poor boy later revealed that this had happened before. He was told it was dehydration or other such things. People don't usually remember much during seizures, so that helped convince him that it was minor, I suppose. He was unaware of the twitching, vomiting, lack of consciousness... He just remembered being with his friends one moment, then suddenly waking up with a huge headache.
Among the rich and wanna-be rich, parents will sometimes doctor-shop to get their children diagnosed with whatever as an attention-seeking, "aren't we unique?" sort of thing. But among the *very* rich and influential, it's kind of the reverse. They have incredible power and freedom but only if they fit into a certain image. Epilepsy is a health condition that is unacceptable. His father basically had decided that his son did not have any such disorder, and being rich and powerful, it's easy to "convince" others.
I still feel absolutely awful for that poor boy.
During a sports event, one kid suddenly had a seizure. He wasn't concussed or anything; he'd just been sitting and watching at the time. There was a flurry of teachers variously keeping other children back, moving chairs out of the way so he didn't hit his head, calling an ambulance, first aid, all of that. Of course, once the immediate danger has passed and he was in the recovery position, his parents were called. Due to the emergency, their family's staff let the call go through to the father directly.
"Mr. Parent, this is Son's Teacher at School. Your Son is okay now, but he's just had a seizure. An ambulance is--"
Father: "No, he didn't."
"He... Um, sorry? I don't think I was clear. Your son had a seizure. He's recov--"
Father: "No, my son has never had a seizure. Good day."
And he hung up.
Talking to the poor boy later revealed that this had happened before. He was told it was dehydration or other such things. People don't usually remember much during seizures, so that helped convince him that it was minor, I suppose. He was unaware of the twitching, vomiting, lack of consciousness... He just remembered being with his friends one moment, then suddenly waking up with a huge headache.
Among the rich and wanna-be rich, parents will sometimes doctor-shop to get their children diagnosed with whatever as an attention-seeking, "aren't we unique?" sort of thing. But among the *very* rich and influential, it's kind of the reverse. They have incredible power and freedom but only if they fit into a certain image. Epilepsy is a health condition that is unacceptable. His father basically had decided that his son did not have any such disorder, and being rich and powerful, it's easy to "convince" others.
I still feel absolutely awful for that poor boy.
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19points
#11
I am working in elevator maintenance. A coworker, who i personally didn't know, just did his standard maintenance at a warehouse, opened the door in the first floor, stepped out and fell down 10 metres head first onto the concrete floor. The warehouse had removed the metal walkway in front of the 1. Floor exit of the elevator, but didn't lock the door or asked us to deprogram that exit entirely.
Poor [guy] died in the hospital the same day. He didn't make any mistake, just opened a door and fell to his death. He was 24, barely older than me. And even though i didn't know him this hit hard.
Poor [guy] died in the hospital the same day. He didn't make any mistake, just opened a door and fell to his death. He was 24, barely older than me. And even though i didn't know him this hit hard.
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19points
#12
Back in the 70s I use to work on an oil drilling rig. Rigs run around the clock in 3 - 8 hour shift’s. Myself along with my crew arrived at the rig to find that the rig wasn’t drilling. The rig was in standby mode. Drill pipe was rotating and the drill bit just suspended off the bottom of the hole. And the crew that we were going to relieve were not there. The only person there was the rigs tool pusher which is a fancy title for the boss. The boss came into the driller’s shack and told us what had happened during the previous shift. It’s winter time and everyone has to dress warm, You work on a drilling rig, your going to fight the elements. But what had happened was one of the workers crawled down inside the draw works. Which is basically the power lift equipment that controls the power drum the cable winds up on that lifts the drill pipe in and out of the hole. Down in the draw works where the crew member entered there is a high speed Jack shaft that couples the Diesel engines to the transmission to the draw works. This Jack shaft has a Coupler in it that allows the shaft to be taken apart if need be. The Jack shaft spins around 1,500 RPM. At ideal speed. The worker that was down in this tight area had backed into this Jack shaft while he was greasing other components in that area. The coupler he backed into had a Grease Zirk that caught his clothing (coat) and just started winding him up on this shaft. It spun him up and pulled him through a 2 x 2 foot hole and threw him up against the draw work motors. He hit hard enough that it broke the fuel filters and lines off of one of motors. An ambulance had come and got him and took him to the hospital. He was lucky. The top of the Grease zirk after catching his clothes had left a red scrap just up his spin just barely scratching his skin. He was banged up really bad from being dragged through that hole he didn’t really fit through, and from being slammed against the engine. He came away with a broken collarbone, cuts and bruises, and 5 broken ribs. A very fortunate person to have survived.
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17points
#13
I watched a woman get scalped by an assembly line. She was underneath it cleaning when someone started up the line, her hair got caught up in a roller and pulled off a 4” chunk of her scalp. So much blood.
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16points
#14
A pharmacy I won’t name in New Jersey had a ScriptPro automated dispensing machine. About 200 different drugs could be loaded into it. A technician loaded the Children Chewable Vitamin cell with Methotrexate, a pretty serious chemotherapeutic drugs. It was dispensed about 18 times by three different pharmacists before the error was caught. Over a dozen children chewing Methotrexate every morning with their breakfast.
It was quietly hushed up.
It was quietly hushed up.
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15points
#15
I worked at a foster home for children with extreme trauma, who had very extreme behaviors to match. Many of those days were horrific, but I only *really* experienced horror when I met some of the parents of these children. Those parents made the chaotic, understaffed group home feel comparatively safe, tbh. Coming to visits high, making weird comments, threatening the staff or other parents, but mostly just *utterly disinterested in their child.* Unspeakably sad.
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15points
#16
I work in a restaurant, one evening one of the salad tenders cut off the tip of his finger and it was bad enough that he had to go to the hospital for it. Unfortunately, the salad he was making somehow made it out of the kitchen and onto a table. Shortly after, a guest complained about something chewy in their salad that they thought was a piece of bacon, and they didn’t want bacon in their salad.
The salad guy couldn’t find the tip of his finger before he left.
The salad guy couldn’t find the tip of his finger before he left.
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14points
#17
Working at a computer repair shop. One guy left his laptop to get fixed, we opened it up to replace the hard drive and saw it was infested with roaches. We all freaked out and had to put the laptop in a sealed plastic bag. The worst part was how offended and angry the guy was that we didn’t finish the job…..
14points
#18
I work in a large warehouse that uses forklifts.
On the night shift, one guy was driving his forklift and he hit a patch of water (a cleaners were notorious for being lazy and leaving puddles everywhere). His forklift slid directly into a pole, and he had instinctively put his leg out to stop the impending crash.
It didn't work. His leg was crushed and he was bleeding profusely.
It was 7 minutes of him screaming in agony and dragging himself through the warehouse looking for help. Ambulance was eventually called, and he had to have his leg amputated just above the knee.
The worst part? He was not compensated for it, as he was fired for driving through a spill and leaving the scene of an accident.
I still remember walking into work the next day and seeing so much blood all over.
On the night shift, one guy was driving his forklift and he hit a patch of water (a cleaners were notorious for being lazy and leaving puddles everywhere). His forklift slid directly into a pole, and he had instinctively put his leg out to stop the impending crash.
It didn't work. His leg was crushed and he was bleeding profusely.
It was 7 minutes of him screaming in agony and dragging himself through the warehouse looking for help. Ambulance was eventually called, and he had to have his leg amputated just above the knee.
The worst part? He was not compensated for it, as he was fired for driving through a spill and leaving the scene of an accident.
I still remember walking into work the next day and seeing so much blood all over.
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14points
#19
My one day working at FedEx.
The interview and training process was unremarkable. Mostly focused on the "evils" of unions. Normal propagandist [stuff]. During the training we had to watch a video on safety regulations we were expected to behave by. After 2 hours of videos, they took me out on the floor for my first day unloading the trucks. One of those safety regulations is that every truck was supposed to have three people to it; two people would unload while the third was tasked with checking and marking packages for sorting.
Ten minutes in, and my second unloader disappears. A supervisor comes and takes the sorter away, telling me that they'll sort my truck farther down the belt. I'm left to unload the entirety of an 18wheeler myself. I get an hour in with few problems by moving the lightest packages and praying that someone is going to come help me soon. Two hours in, I'm deadlifting 75-100 pound packages out of this truck by myself.
Last hour of the shift, my supervisor reappears because the truck wasn't being unloaded. I was pinned under 200lbs of furniture. Two other unloaders were called to free me, and I was reprimanded for not having a second lifter with me. Two weeks of rest, a short investigation and a workman's comp filing later, the supervisor was forced to acknowledge they were responsible for removing the two other workers from my truck. I was asked when they could expect me back to work, and I told them to shove it. I still have back issues years later, and there's a spot about the diameter of a soda can where my back still feels like pins and needles.
The interview and training process was unremarkable. Mostly focused on the "evils" of unions. Normal propagandist [stuff]. During the training we had to watch a video on safety regulations we were expected to behave by. After 2 hours of videos, they took me out on the floor for my first day unloading the trucks. One of those safety regulations is that every truck was supposed to have three people to it; two people would unload while the third was tasked with checking and marking packages for sorting.
Ten minutes in, and my second unloader disappears. A supervisor comes and takes the sorter away, telling me that they'll sort my truck farther down the belt. I'm left to unload the entirety of an 18wheeler myself. I get an hour in with few problems by moving the lightest packages and praying that someone is going to come help me soon. Two hours in, I'm deadlifting 75-100 pound packages out of this truck by myself.
Last hour of the shift, my supervisor reappears because the truck wasn't being unloaded. I was pinned under 200lbs of furniture. Two other unloaders were called to free me, and I was reprimanded for not having a second lifter with me. Two weeks of rest, a short investigation and a workman's comp filing later, the supervisor was forced to acknowledge they were responsible for removing the two other workers from my truck. I was asked when they could expect me back to work, and I told them to shove it. I still have back issues years later, and there's a spot about the diameter of a soda can where my back still feels like pins and needles.
13points
#20
I worked in a manufacturing facility as a buyer. I was in my office one day when I saw two of the product line supervisors sprint by and head toward the production floor. Seems a mechanic had tried to get a machine unjammed and had failed to turn the machine off. He reached in and the machine indexed and caught his arm, then it indexed again and partially ripped it off. I was on the safety committee and trained in first aid so I was called on to assist the plant nurse and safety director. I thought I was going to pass out - the guy was lying on his back and what was left of his arm was shards of bone and tissue. I'll never forget it.
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13points