Brain Top Off!

A young British woman working in an office in London was seriously injured recently when her hair was trapped by the blades of a desk fan, causing lacerations to her scalp and severe blood loss. 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 . Thermometers in the captial city rose to as high as 35 Centigrade (95 F) on July 1st, which meant if you worked in an office in London the conditions could become rather unbearable. Just like many other office workers, Miss Hutnyk put a small fan on her desktop in order to stay cool while trying to work. Since desk fans are notoriously inneficient at cooling in very high temperatures, she repeatedly moved the appliance closer to her face. Tragically, her long hair suddenly got pulled in between the fan grilles and trapped in the blades with horrific consequences. Within seconds a large quantity of the young lady’s hair was torn from her scalp, along with a skin from her scalp. “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. Doctors are said to be considering hair implants to repair the damaged scalp once the wound has healed fully.

A spokesperson from the company said: “This was a tragic accident and we take full responsibility for not providing proper cooling facilities in the office. We will be fitting each office with overhead ceiling fans and banning the use of desk fans to prevent these kinds of incidents in the future.” Office and general workers trade union GMB scoffed at this response from the company, calling it “far short of the mark”. “Essentially the cause of these kinds of problems is that our workplaces in the UK are simply not set up to deal with hot weather – and to be honest a ceiling fan is not enough. We are demanding that every office in the UK be fitted with full air conditioning 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.

An office worker in London, England was taken to hospital after her hair was caught in the blades of a desk fan, causing lacerations to her scalp and severe blood loss. 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 . Thermometers in the captial city rose to as high as 35 Centigrade (95 F) on July 1st, which meant if you worked in an office in London the conditions could become rather unbearable. Ms Hutnyk, like thousands of others, placed a cooling fan on her desk to help her cool down whilst working. 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. However her long hair, swept around by the wind caused by the fan, swept in between the grilles and got caught in its whirling blades. Only a few seconds later a clump of the victim’s long blonde hair had been caught by the blades and forcefully pulled out of her scalp, together with a significant amount of skin. “It all happened so quickly, “ said Ms Hutnyk later, “it sounds horribly painful but to tell you the truth I passed out pretty quickly and thankfully I didn’t really know much about it. The others in the office later said there was blood everywhere – they were more traumatised than me I think.” An ambulance was called and she was rushed to hospital, where she required 12 stitches on her scalp. 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 root cause of such disasters is that we don’t have equipment or laws in place in workplaces to help us cope with hot weather – ceiling fans aren’t enough. We are demanding that every office in the UK be fitted with at least a portable air conditioner both to help people concentrate on their work and ensure this kind of tragedy never happens again.” The advice from union officials to Miss Hutnyk is to sue her employers, as this constitutes a breach of health and safety law.