Please share your profession and event you witnessed you would consider the worst and never wants to see again
What’s The Worst Shocking Thing You Have Seen in Your Line of Work?
Aerith-Waifu on 02/07/2025 - 14:14
Comments
Don't be agro.
And don't read the thread.
There is no way the trauma and trigger factor will ever see a thread shut down on Ozbargain.
Email about fork in the toaster (you asked for shocking) and it was next to where the electricial engineers sat.
Electrical engineers are the worst for stuff like that.
Source: I am one.
I use to work security at the front door of a big leagues club. A patron who was on a "hot streak" on a poker machine urinated in the old coin tray that use to be on pokies so he didn't have to go to the toilet. I busted him, he didn't see the issue. Anyway I turfed his arse through the front doors of the club and the manager gave him an instant ban pending a life ban.
So the management meeting comes around, I give my turn of events and security footage…. His lift ban is overturned and he is given his membership back. Why? Because he put about 5k through the pokies each week. Money ruled over basic human decency. He was advise never to repeat the same incident again or the life ban would be issued.
I generally made his life over the coming months painful, standing next to him while he was playing for long periods of time, following him out to his car "for his safety", poker machine attendants would serve all machines before his machines. It was beautiful to watch payback and him getting pi$$ed off.
He takes his own VIP club emblem emblazoned bucket, these days.
Very Impertinent Pee-er.
hahaha, I bet he does!
Legit could get sued if i said anything specific all ill say is ive had people disclose some of the worst things that 'can happen' to a human happen to them
Did they reveal they were murdered?
Connected to Bikies and corrupt cops lets say that
Child sex predators hiding in religious organizations preying on children
You've seen that?
I'll take that as a no…
Feces. I was cleaning a supermarket and upon sweeping under the confectionary aisle I came across what I thought were pieces of Maltesers. They were not.
I've seen r/WTF videos and people reposition their undies from the outside and it just slides down their pant leg on to the floor. Absolutely horrific.
A friend who worked at a Supermarket had some customer take a dump in the freezer section.
At least they could just wait for it to freeze so it's easier/cleaner to take out.
(Although in the meantime they'd need to make sure no one tried to buy it because they thought it was dog food or something.)I just find myself absolutely astonished at some people. This was a major supermarket and the management refused to have a security guard protecting the workers.
@try2bhelpful: Management might appreciate the situation when a mysterious parcel arrives on their desk.
I've had to remove items of clothing from changerooms that are visibly covered with excretions from women who have tried them on, clearly not wearing underwear while trying on
The process of writing-off the items was lengthy and ridiculous due to the company's lack of trust for write-offs that you'd have to put duct tape around the area of damage and store them for the regional manager to approve… so I then had to put tape around the excretions on the garments gusset and store them in a bag.
One of my colleagues at the time had to remove used santiary items from the same changerooms, and then clean up where they were left.
People are gross and the pay was not enough to deal with that…
FT, I'd just bin them, write a report afterwards
You'd get a written warning and bullying from a regional if you wrote anything off without their required proof. Well, I got bullied, I only have anecdotal evidence that other mangers did.
They were a company that took full advantage of the fact their managers were all under-25-year-old women who would be afraid they'd lose their job if they questioned the workplace treatment.
This fashion brand has been ordered into liquidation recently and with the staff retention issues I was not at all surprised.
Katies?
Zip lock back and let them open them to check once they've festered for a while.
This is also Big W, at QV. They said it's normal. There's also diapers. Despite there being bathrooms upstairs too…
I had a finance team member once email our whole firm checking in on outstanding timesheets. He then put a GIF of the "Malaysian bowling team" as a prompt to get us to make a move on. The Malaysian bowling team was Malaysian militia beating down protesters. He didn't last too long after that incident
Someone dropped bbq onion once, and now we have to have the sausages over the onion.
What? Is this a bunnings sausage sizzle thing?
Yes.
I can't eat them anymore. It's strange having bread then onions then sausage.
This is actually only a recommendation, not a rule.
Source: Have read the manual for the sausage sizzle provided to third parties.
Company gave the securtiy after-hours alert mobile phone to an elderly employee. Man was comitted to the company. One night the phone went off and he drove to the premises to investigate and caught some people breaking into the building. He gave chase and ended up being cornered, run over and killed. Pretty sad and shocking. The company didn't take responcibility.
The company didn't take responcibility.
Was the guy a security guard? Was he under any obligation to give chase? It seems irrational to risk your life over property, especially when it isn't even yours. Horrible thing to happen of course.
No he was an employee of the company.
The company had short cut team names to be able to send out an email to all members of any particular team. This guy from another section of the company sent a truly disgusting vile set of jokes to one of his mates and accidentally got our short cut address as well. My manager gave home the mother of all dressing downs on this and the guy sent a truly grovelling apology. If my manager had sent this up the tree the sender would’ve been in very deep doo doo.
There was also a senior manager who was putting out an organisation chart. In her wisdom she did a precopy of this where she decided to say exactly what she thought of the people on the chart. Unfortunately she attached this org chart instead of the final one. They tried to pull back the emails but people had downloaded the chart already. It went absolutely viral in the company.
eek
I failed to include a cover sheet on my TPO report.
Worked in a local supermarket when I was in school. It was managed by mostly young blokes in uni, and staffed by mostly high schoolers, so you can imagine that things weren't always by the book. One day a co-worker and I turned up for our shift and apparently we'd rubbed some managers the wrong way and we'd been queued up for an informal punishment. We were taken out the back to a locked toilet that hadn't been used or cleaned in many years (and had no plans to be used any time soon) and instructed to clean it. I don't know what had happened in there, but the mess was not contained to within the toilet. I can only assume that it had previously been condemned and that's why it was locked up. Somehow we managed to channel our teenage sense of 'gross out' humour and actually got on with the job while having a few laughs, in between the occasional dry reach. I honestly didn't think too much of it at the time. But looking back as an adult, I realise now that it probably wasn't reasonable to ask 2 children who'd rocked up to stock shelves, to instead clean up a bio-hazard for no particular reason.
I did work experience in year 11 at a photography studio and the manager made me clean and vacuum his car. I didn't go back the next day. He said it was to work on my 'attention to detail'
My work: don't take sick days even when you're sick!
My work after one guy spread his covid around: why is 1/3 of the workforce off sick???This is probably the most dumbest policy ever.
10 or so years ago in a major engineering company's Perth office. A disgruntled contractor who had some major beef with his lead and totally lost it and started chucking monitors and workstations around the office. Needless to say, he has never worked in our industry again.
10 years before that, watched a guy in another office (and another country) get arrested for having kiddy fiddling images and videos on his work server.
Tow truck driver get his arm ripped off by a commodore trying to jump the trailer like GTA
Oh sheez hope you got onto seeing a trauma councillor. That's awful
IT. We had some international SMEs visiting, they tried to expense multiple bottles of grange to wash down their steak dinners.
IT
Display pic checks out
Grange as in Chianti? Steak as in faba beans?
pretty much. The gall of them to think they could get away with it was mind blowing. $200 for dinner, $1200 for the wine. unsuprisingly it got rejected (multiple times).
Submariner- tamest story…my 'office' was down in a bilge space where an engine was located and needed regular watching. I came down for my shift and mechanic is half sitting down, pants off, legs spread and jamming a toothbrush in his ass because 'its so itchy'. I said its prob roids and thats disgusting. He said its ok as not his toothbrush.
wtf have i just read, also which end of the toothbrush was going in
Brush end first for the deep scratch :)
The toothbrush was just a decoy. He was really trying to poke the gerbil to wake him up and make him move a bit.
Secondary school teacher - a kid came back from suspension and he immediately tried to set the desk on fire using a cigarette lighter in my class.
Worked at a servo, the guy who worked overnight used to regularly smoke, including when he did the dips.
I didn't see it, but there was a customer who set himself on fire smoking while filling a fuel can.
Being called nigga and chinaman by 2 different co-workers on the same day.
Must say those 2 are dumbass as I'm neither black nor from China.
Crikey, there's you,using 2 racist terms to justify online anecdote.
Playing neo Nazi bingo are ya?
https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/893740Upload a photo to validate/nullify the veracity your anecdote.
nah, you you you
Dan Murphies, video of the obese girl having sex with bottles in the cold room would have been pretty disturbing if they hadn't sold that night. Looked like baileys Irish cream she hit first.
Never grab the top of a bottle before you buy.Similar thing at another bottle shop with the female store manager who is also running her own OnlyFans and often runs out to her car to film herself masturbating.
Yeah, and the Hot girl in the mini skirt with no nickers at Bunnings who has to bend over a lot.
I'll bet a lot of guys offered to work at Bunnings for free after that.This thread is about things that supposedly happened, not the masturbatory fantasies of the pair of you.
What's her username.. (for research purposes)
people who have TDS
Total Dissolved Solids?
Trump Derangement Syndrome
almost as bad as TSS
Transmitted Disease Sexually.
University head of department: Got ousted for having porn on his work computer.
Once he was under the microscope, they discovered a few other dodgy things as well, so not sure if the porn was the only reason he got removed.
NFI what kind or how much.
QLD Police Force - Constable David Moore. Fitzgerald Enquiry revealed that they knew about it and did nothing. Didn't even do a bait and switch like the Catholic Church did with their offenders.
I've seen and helped cut someone open across their chest to save their life after they were stabbed in the heart. Not everyday you see someone staple a hole in a beating heart.
Once a upon time i did maintenance work on b doubles and tautliners. One morning, an off duty cop rode his bike directly into one as it was leaving the depot. Went under and pronounced dead at the scene. I ended up doing maintenance on that same tautliner afterwards. Eerie feeling being under the same space as someone who died.
Many many moons ago I worked at a major car rental place. One of our renters had a car accident in one of our cars and sadly passed away. When we found out, the first thing the fleet manager said was to "charge the excess to his credit card now before it gets cancelled!'
My friend worked in hospitality. She said the same thing about charging their credit cards for the mini bar before it gets cancelled
Years ago when I was a teenager manager at Maccas someone slit their wrists in the female toilet, she survived (was known to police) but I had to clean the blood that was running out into the dining room. Nothing in the OHS manual back in the 90s for this.
Once upon a time I found out someone else in the office used my toothbrush that I kept quite securely and privately in the office bathroom cabinet.
The disgusting discovery when I walk into the bathroom to see them in action with it. “I thought this is shareable…”
Let’s say that it did not end well for them.
Did you give them a “submariner”?
Ive seen similar. Disgusting!
High school teacher refuses to teach the curriculum and assess students. Whenever leadership speak to her about it she just throws a tantrum until they walk away from her. This has been going on for a decade. Shocking to see every year hundreds of kids not get the education they deserve and shocking to see there’s no accountability for teachers who don’t teach.
And yet if you were to punch her, you'd be the bad person.
I was working for a company that did superannuation and some fintech related stuff. The company "culture" was toxic beyond belief in general. Those who were the first hundred or so of employees were in some sort of an "inner circle" and they make all the rules, which are not always written. They also would come and go as they please.
I reported this to the "engineering director" once indicating that people were in general just trying to cover their butt and there's no scope for actual improvement in the company because of this culture. This guy was newly hired to "fix" several problems. His response? "That's bullshit". I quit them shortly and went onto taking a much better paying job with far better colleagues and culture.
Lord of the Flies
Hit on my motorcycle otw home by a stolen car, broke many bones n took off allt of flesh , one of many incidents.
Many years ago, our first floor office was across the road from a 12 storey block of flats. Someone screamed as a body impaled itself on the stair railing of the flats
Probably not the worst worst but anonymous enough to be able to post it on here because it happens all the time. Delirious men with a catheter who pull it out with the internal balloon still inflated.
Also neglect of other humans, that can get in the bin.
Many years ago, I was installing some equipment in a store and witnessed a guy trying to steal several expensive mobile phones from the display. He got caught and roughed up by security. The "funny" part - the phones weren’t even real, just plastic display models.
that's a double negative. very confusing question
In a previous life I worked in retail for close to 10 years during school and studies, one medium sized and one a larger retailer. The general public and upper levels of retail management can be absolute pond scum. Here are ones that stand out and vary in shock value:
Customer taking a shit on the store floor, providing the gift of an adult sized-turd. Nice of them to clean themselves up with some wet wipes and leave them behind as well.
A store manager faking having cancer and stealing money from our own retailers charity fundraiser boxes at the registers. Shaved their head, pricked their arms and stole stories from people they worked with who actually were battling the disease to concoct her own lies. Used the funds from a GoFundMe created by their colleagues to spend on holidays and luxury goods. Whilst supposedly overseas for treatment. Was caught and charged by police.
Children falling out of their trolleys and injuring themselves. The thuds on the floor you would hear were sickening
Someone shitting in a DVD case and putting it back on the shelf. There was a weird smell in the media aisle for a couple of days and then it was found. The movie was Lethal Weapon 2.
The mini Hitler managers who would bully staff and attempt to skirt by basic requirements, encouraging underpayment, not giving entitled breaks and even not paying staff properly all because of "budgets". Included a store manager cutting certain peoples shifts cos he wasnt invited to a birthday party and an area manager threatening to discipline staff because they had tattoos, facial hair and wearing black socks with the smallest neutral coloured patterns on them
A lady with serious OCD who would demand that the bags and products she was purchasing could not touch the register desk (Pre covid)
Indians asking for discounts on sub $5 items, wanting refunds on clearly used $1 items and sometimes not even having receipts. Occasionally customers would have receipts dating back 2+ years on items they attempted to return.
An employee stealing $200 from the till, the manager then proceeds to type up massive red warning notices in caps lock and sticking these around every single spare spot in the tea room, saying to return the money or else. The place looked like an EB Games store when having a sale. The thief was caught on camera and fired.
An employee calling in sick saying they couldn't work their 4 hour shift, only to be then seen that same day sitting down eating at KFC in the same shopping centre as the place they worked
An absolute ogre of a lady threatening to get me fired because I wouldn't/couldn't carry her belongings to her car. (Couldn't leave the store as it was severely understaffed at the time, store policy/OHS among other reasons)
A store manager having to work after suffering a miscarriage a few weeks later, she was upset and crying in the office for all of the shift.
Serving hillbilly families with long fingernails that smell like hot sick and arse in a dead carcass. Can smell them a few aisles away, opening their wallet to empty coins at the registers and some sort of congealed snot empties out as well
Customers chucking hissy fits when they arrive 5-10 minutes after closing time expecting to be served, when the gates are shut and threatening to "call head office". Common the day before Fathers/Mothers Day, Easter, Xmas
Customers trying on slippers and leaving pus and blood behind
A junkie storming through the back room and locking themselves in our office, absolutely destroying everything inside. Was shop lifting from another store and trying to escape
Someone riding a motorcycle through the store, inches away from colliding with some customers
People brazenly stealing items and walking out the door with bags full. When your local security look like extras from Paul Blart Mall Cop and take 10 minutes to get to the store then its pretty easy to get away with. Not worth trying to stop them.
The old cleaner sexually assaulting one of the young female staff members
A lady losing their phone and after a week in our lost property box our manager went through it, turns out she was a prostitute and there was a lot of explicit content on there relating to her line of work.
Met some great people and some are friends to this day though!
Met some great people and some are friends to this day though!
So you managed to reunite the lady with her phone?
Eventually the phone was reunited with the rightful owner!
😱
Wow….those are some… oh my lord! events
Must have been a relief wording those out!
The thuds on the floor you would hear were sickening
😱
It was a different world, especially being a wet behind the years teenager for half of that time!
Hahahaha, Lethal Weapon #2, that's gold.
hope that became lore your work.
"I'll be back in a minute Jane, have a lethal weapon to take care of"I'm too old for this shit….literally!
ItsMeAgro on 03/07/2025 - 09:46 Comment score below threshold.