Don’t Get Too Close To Your Desk Fan – A Warning

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. Secretary Emily Hutnyk, aged 24, who works at a multinational telecoms company in central London, used the fan to try and cope with the record-breaking heatweave that recently struck the United Kingdom . 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. However the heat and humidity was so intense that she kept moving the fan closer to her face to try and get the most out of it. Tragedy struck when her long blonde hair became trapped within the grilles of the desk fan and got pulled in by the rotating blades. Within seconds a large quantity of the young lady’s hair was torn from her scalp, along with a skin from her scalp. “It was over really fast actually”, said Miss Hutnyk, “in fact I think it was worse for my co-workers to watch - personally I passed out within seconds so I barely remember it. I think my co-workers were acutally the traumatised ones - apparently my blood went everywhere.” 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.

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 overhead ceiling fans 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. “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 at least a portable air conditioner 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.