Job hazards

I have been working on a “special” project this past week and let me tell you, it really is special. This process led me to think about hazards in the workplace, specifically those for working in publication.

Paper cuts. When you handle as much paper as I do, files and such, you are bound to get a couple paper cuts

Eye strain. Try searching through a couple hundred pages a day, squinting to read the fine print on newspaper. Oh yeah, and the information I was looking for in the paper was commonly printed on the side margin and sometime printed upside down – on purpose.

Fingerprints. I have gotten little print fingerprints all over my desk, my printer – you don’t even want to know where I found them by the time I got home. And this is WITH washing my hands numerous times a day and using those fabulous Clorex wipes on everything within reach.

Dirty black fingerprints, every where. I use to look at the copier at work and shudder at the accumulated black marks on the nice new copier and go wash my hands after I used it. But after this project, I saw how easier it was to mark up the equipment as a black smudge built up on the side of my printer from grabbing the papers from the tray. Eww! I am not OCD about keeping things clean but for some reason, these black smudges from the newsprint grossed me out.