When Desk Fans Turn Bad

(London, UK) A female office worker had to be rushed to hospital when her hair got caught up in the rotating blades of a desk fan, leading to servere blood loss and lacerations to the scalp. Emily Hutnyk, 24, an administrative assistant at a major telecommunications firm in the London borough of Kensington and Chelsea, was trying to cope with the recent heatwave in the UK . Temperatures in London soared to a record-breaking 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit) in early July, leading to unbearable working conditions in many workplaces. As many of us frequently do during the summer, Miss Hutnyk decided to use a desk fan while she worked to try and keep cool. So hot and humid was it that day that the young lady kept moving the desk fan closer to her face to try and cool down as much as possible. Tragedy struck when her long blonde hair became trapped within the grilles of the desk fan and got pulled in by the rotating blades. It only took seconds for a large amount of hair and skin to be forcefully torn out of the girl’s head by the rotating blades of the fan. “I hardly remember it to be honest”, admitted Miss Hutnyk when interviewed later, “I think I passed out within seconds – it was my poor colleagues who had to watch it happen. The others in the office later said there was blood everywhere – they were more traumatised than me I think.” Colleagues immediately called an ambulance and she was taken to hospital where doctors stitched her scalp and treated her for blood loss and shock. Once her head wounds have fully recovered Miss Hutnyk may consider hair implant surgery, as some of the hair that was pulled out may never grow back.

An official from the telecomms firm later called the incident “an unfortunate accident, which we are taking steps to ensure never happens again by reviewing the cooling needs of the office. We will be fitting each office with a ceiling fan and banning the use of desk fans to prevent these kinds of incidents in the future. However a representative from the office workers trade union GMB called this measure unacceptable. The problem is that offices are not equipped to deal with such high temperatures, and ceiling fans wont do it. We are demanding that every office in the UK be fitted with air conditioners both to help people concentrate on their work and ensure this kind of tragedy never happens again. The union is advising Ms Hutnyk to consider taking legal action against the company for breach of health and safety regulations.

Tagged as: air conditioners, desk fan, health and safety, heatwave, office, tragedy, workplace injury