Your dream of being drafted to an NFL team didn’t come true. You aren’t instructing others on how to properly jump from a plane at 12,000 feet. You aren’t even working alongside temperamental animals. No, you chose the “safe” route and landed yourself a 9-to-5 office job with a cushy chair and a trusted pen. What you may not realize is that risk is still living in your line of work.
If you don’t believe it, consider the recalls earlier this year of common HP and Konica office printers. More than 900,000 Hewlett-Packard machines were recalled in Canada and Mexico. The same models are sold in the United States, but the particular machines sent across the borders had the unique risk of overheating. The danger was tied to internal electrical component failure, which meant that spontaneous flames were possible at any given moment, particularly at the peak work hours, when the machine was being put under the most stress.
Similarly, this year, approximately 8,500 Konica Minolta printers were recalled after it was discovered that they, too, had the potential to overheat and spark a fire. Though no injuries were reported with the recall, there were two cases of fire recounted.
Though the chances that your office owns and operates a piece of machinery with a faulty component, capable of causing you bodily harm is much rarer that an NFL player suffering a concussion, the point is that all jobs come with risk. This should serve as a reminder to be aware of your surroundings, familiar with recall lists, and prepared for the unexpected. Does your company have an emergency plan in place if a serious product malfunction occurs during business hours? Do you know what you would do? Currently, there are no known lawsuits tied to either of these recalls and, fortunately, there have been no reported injuries, but not every recall is so timely.