Ready ... Aim ... Ouch!

Ever shot a staple into your hand? I have. Ain't fun. And that was with a regular paper stapler. The one you see here is among those heavy-duty types used for big jobs. Y'know, like hanging Christmas decorations.

In this photo, a man demonstrates how he shot a staple into the palm of his hand. Using a new staple gun, one he was unfamiliar with, he loaded it up and started to work. Assuming the staple would eject out of the *other* end, he supported the stapler with his palm under the *real* ejection port. Then he lined things up and pulled the handle. The telltale thunk of the staple gun was immediately followed by a high pitched "Yeoooowwww!" and several slurred expletives. 

This worker, I'm told, is a well-educated and seasoned employee. He just made the mistake of assuming he knew how to use this piece of equipment. The staple gun did have markings and arrows on the chrome, pointing to the exit end. But let's be honest here. Who really reads instructions? After all, how hard can it be to use a stapler, for cryin' our loud? But that mentality is probably the reason many accidents happen at home; our failure to read instructions because we assume we're smart enough to figure things out on our own. 

Folks, what it all boils down to is a simple lesson in time management: Spend three minutes reading the instructions to do the job without injury, or spend three weeks recovering from an injury because you didn't read the instructions.

www.safetycenter.navy.mil