Anyone who works in a blue-collar job knows that mistakes can get expensive very quickly. One wrong measurement, one missed step, or one moment of distraction can turn an ordinary workday into a disaster story that gets retold for years. Most workers have at least one close call they would rather forget, while others end up with a photo that follows them around long after the job is finished.
The images collected here capture some of those moments where things came dangerously close to going very wrong. From questionable decisions and avoidable mistakes to spectacular failures that somehow stopped just short of catastrophe, these photos showcase the thin line between a bad day at work and a career defining one. Thankfully, most ended with bruised egos instead of pink slips.
1. Well, someone’s getting fired
2. What a great view of the game
3. The staircase to nowhere
4. This is definitely not OSHA approved
5. The transfer slab collapsed as they were pouring the concrete for a high-rise; no one was injured
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6. “No one is going to notice”
7. Now that’s a fire hazard
8. Ah, what a nice balcony
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9. Late-night trips to the bathroom could end in catastrophe
10. That fence will keep the bad guys out
11. The impossible escalator
12. This is going to cause some problems
13. The boss is going to lose his mind
14. This is for when it’s nap time, but your kid won’t go to bed
15. That’s just cruel
16. If you have an extra soap dispenser, why not use it?
17. This is what happens when the scaffolding isn’t secured properly
18. This is what it looks like when a post-tensioned slab fails
19. One man to save the massive fail, he can fix it
20. “We were wondering how the whole barn collapsed.”
Want to see more fails?
Check out 20 Home Improvement Fails That Cost Homeowners Big, or take a look at 25 Plumbing Fails That Ruined Houses Entirely. Finally, if you want to see some crazy automobile fails, check out 20 Automobile Fails That Escape All Rationality.
