“He Almost Ate It”: 64 Times People Were Unlucky Or Dumb Enough To End Up In Dangerous Situations

While some of the stories on this list are complete accidents that blindsided people, many are potentially perilous situations caused by human error. As noted in a January report by the Occupational Health & Safety magazine (OHS), 80-90% of serious workplace injuries are caused by misjudgments or unsafe behavioral choices.

The report also noted that 96% of all workplace accidents begin with unsafe behavior. Likewise, it highlighted that despite improved regulations, smarter equipment, and better data systems that companies provide and implement, careless workers can still hurt people. 

“Human behavior rarely exists in isolation. Workers make decisions within systems shaped by deadlines, fatigue, supervision quality, training design, and organizational culture,” an excerpt from the OHS report reads. 

Close calls should never be ignored just because no one got seriously hurt. Instead, they should be viewed as a lesson learned to prevent a potential disaster in the future. 

This is why Harvard Business School professor Amy Edmondson advocates a company culture that treats near-misses as a “goldmine” of learning opportunities to be openly discussed rather than avoided.

“In organizations like Toyota, where they recognize the richness of the almost-failure and recognize that those are free learning opportunities, people are more likely to speak up, and everyone learns,” Edmonson said.