When I'm submitting proposals for working with the public, health and safety assessments are a typical element. I have a "set text" covering paper-cuts and making sure the nose of any paper planes are suitably blunted, which usually suffices.
However, a recent job highlighted a danger for which I had been blissfully unaware, that of paper bangers. Not the noise, you understand, but the fact that the action of "firing" them requires a violent movement of the arm. Clearly, if some unfortunate child were to walk underneath the arm, it could lead to headaches, concussion, broken (or severed, see right) limbs or even a slow and lingering death. "Who had approved the use of this dangerous form of origami?" I was asked.
Clearly, I need to take my work more seriously and re-evaluate models I had assumed were non-lethal. Please feel free to use the following list of dangers when you work with the public;
strained wrist due to excessive flapping
ligament damage through repeated jumping of frogs
burned fingers caused by over-enthusiastic creasing
lung damage when blowing up frog's rear end
hair loss due to frustration when folding cuckoo clocks
What other dangers can you think of?
Published on March 10, 2011 13:59