i work an entry level position at a library. long story short, i do a bunch of random shit.
anyways, we had to make a hundred bags of cotton candy one day.
usually, i think you're supposed to use those paper cones or something. but we didn't have those so we had to use our arms to gather it. we wore gloves and cling wrap up to our elbows. tiresome and not the recommended way to do it. at the center of the machine is basically a very fast, very hot motor. the tiny leather straps on it hit us a few times while we were making the cotton candy. it hurt like hell but didn't injure us. it also went everywhere – i even have a picture of my coworkers covered in cotton candy.
but thinking back, i'm like “what the fuck?”. our gloves could've been caught in the spinning mechanism inside and god knows what would've happened. everything i look up about safety for those machines is basically like “DO NOT PUT YOUR HAND IN!!”
but like, it's totally ok because we're encouraged to do desk yoga and go for a walk.
is shit like this legal? either way, i'm still kinda irked we weren't given anything to make it safer.