scariest moment at work

nickblake · Jun 7, 2011

Come on guys you must have had one here mine : working on lighting conductors at a castle ,not the one on the island the other one not saying where , replacing damaged sections of the tape beautiful sunny day cut it out put in a new piece bolt together test and jobs a good one move on to the next , i was working at the top of the tower strapped out the damaged area of rod ,basically a large jump lead , cut out the damaged bit just bolting it back together and there was a huge flash of lighting, ill tell you ,youve never seen people run so fast ,that wasnt due to the lighting but due to the noxiouse pong that came from me lol boy did it put the willies up me never did it again with out me rubber gloves on i can tell you

Lofty · Jun 7, 2011

Hi,
I did post this a while back but working in an old (Georgian) farmhouse that has been empty for god knows how long. Put hand under floorboards in attic to pull light cables through and put hand straight into occupied rat's nest. Think I produced same pong LOL. Rats went one way I went the other. Pest controller called in to clear building.

Lofty.

rocker · Jun 7, 2011

Kneeling in a cupboard with the acrid smell of my own toasting flesh deep in the nostrils, praying it is going to let go......

SirKit Breaker · Jun 7, 2011

Mines not electrical, but way back in my Aircraft days i always ended up getting the s888 end of the stick after engine changes. The fuel flow meters needed setting up on both engines, they are under the engine cowling, and it can only be done with the engine running at full power. It is very scary when you are trying to turn a very small screw with a very long screwdriver with a torch in your mouth whilst holding the engine cowling up and a bloody great propellor is spinning at about 14000 rpm 4 feet away from your ear. The other scary job was emptying the pressurised bog system after a 10 hour flight with a couple of hundred passengers, if you didnt get the boss on and locked properly to empty it could blow off and dump a few hundred pounds of other peoples dung on your head and everywhere else, it never got me but i have seen it happen more than once..........

Happy days.

Cheers...........Howard

The Cavalry · Jun 7, 2011

mine is none electrical as well. Sitting slumped in an arm chair when all of a sudden I am lifted out and thrown on the floor by an explosion. It was when the americans were blown up by a freak scud hitting their warehouse in Dahran during the first Gulf War. left a brick wall behind me!!

Phil · Jun 7, 2011

a few years ago a 230v circular kicked back when doing the floor boards when it hit a nail. it missed my inner thigh by a couple of centimeters as i kicked back and ran backwards. that great safety thing on the handle was no dam use as i grabbed it harder like you do when something comes towards you

Sintra · Jun 8, 2011

Mine was watching a colleague tipping a scissor lift when he was about 6M up. Watching it come down was as if it was happening in slow motion.

Jabbajaws · Jun 8, 2011

I was working in a bingo hall once, on the bar when one of the beer pumps, that circulate the lager began making a funny noise. I 'had a look' and decided straight away that it was the carbon brushes (this is when l thought that l was an electrician, but was really just young and stupid).

As the bar was busy and l was responsible for maintaining the cellar at that time, l decided to take out the existing carbon brushes and put the new ones in, without turning off the pump first.

Looking back now, l just cannot believe how utterly stupid this action was. I didn't even know what a carbon brush was back then, least of all that they conduct electricity. I thought it was some kind of brake to slow down the motor, when l took one of them out, expecting to see bristles and found metal instead.

As l put one of the brushes into it's spring loaded slot, l had my finger on the spring, as l was screwing the plastic end cap back on and was also leaning on a metallic beer keg, situated on the damp, 'covered in lager everywhere floor'.

Needless to say,

I NEVER EVER DID THIS AGAIN...

truckster · Jun 8, 2011

I was fitting a fire alarm in a local engineering works and as the workshop was full of stuff it was a nightmare getting round the walls. One part of the route had an enormous galvanised tank that was about six feet high and about eight feet by four. Full of water and no way to move it so I balanced on the edges as I clipped the cable round. Sometime later the factory h and e bloke turned up and really tore a strip off one of the workers. I asked him what it was all about and it turned out that the big metal tank should have had a lid on, why? i said, in case someone drowns? They'd be lucky to drown the worker says, that tank is full of chemical cleaner at about 200 degrees, it's for cleaning the castings. This bloke had watched me walking round the edges and not said a bleeding thing.

Kamikaze · Jun 8, 2011

Back in the day when I was still a lad. I was on a job in London when the electrician in charge suddenly died of a heart attack whilst at work. Well none of us apprentices had ever seen a dead person before or knew what to do with one. So in our infinite wisdom we decided to load him into the back of the van and drive him back to the yard. It didn’t half freak me out driving around with a corpse in the back.

millwall ken · Jun 8, 2011

SirKit Breaker said:
Mines not electrical, but way back in my Aircraft days i always ended up getting the s888 end of the stick after engine changes. The fuel flow meters needed setting up on both engines, they are under the engine cowling, and it can only be done with the engine running at full power. It is very scary when you are trying to turn a very small screw with a very long screwdriver with a torch in your mouth whilst holding the engine cowling up and a bloody great propellor is spinning at about 14000 rpm 4 feet away from your ear. The other scary job was emptying the pressurised bog system after a 10 hour flight with a couple of hundred passengers, if you didnt get the boss on and locked properly to empty it could blow off and dump a few hundred pounds of other peoples dung on your head and everywhere else, it never got me but i have seen it happen more than once..........

Happy days.

Cheers...........Howard

Howard mate, would these aircraft days be whilst a Crabbie???

nickblake · Jun 8, 2011

Kamikaze said:
Back in the day when I was still a lad. I was on a job in London when the electrician in charge suddenly died of a heart attack whilst at work. Well none of us apprentices had ever seen a dead person before or knew what to do with one. So in our infinite wisdom we decided to load him into the back of the van and drive him back to the yard. It didn’t half freak me out driving around with a corpse in the back.

sort of happened to me working with some shop fitters we stopped for a panad (tea break ) and a guy just died whist haveing his brew sat there eys wide open holding his mug we didnt even know he'd passed away till he didnt move when we got up to go back to work