Charles Darwin with a purple swarm around his head, contemplating the twist of fate that natural selection sidestepped these still-living honorable mentions.

2009 Honorable Mention

Next Prev Random Honorable Mentions have misadventures that stop short of the ultimate sacrifice. Nevertheless we salute the spirit of their colossal blunders with an Honorable Mention. Better luck next time!

Hot Buns
2009 Honorable Mention
Confirmed True by Darwin

(February 2009, Sweden) Welcome to Sweden. Home of Swedish massage, Swedish fish, and one Swedish meatball who decided to warm himself in an industrial strength oven. The incident took place in freezing February at a facility operated by a maker of kitchen cabinets and fixtures.

The heating system in the loading area had ceased to function, leaving a shivering truck driver defenseless against the frigid winter. Looking to escape the cold, this driver wandered toward the shrink-wrap oven and asked the operator if he could take a spin on the conveyor belt to get warm. Although the driver was freezing his umlaut off, the operator denied the man's request.

Undaunted, the driver waited until no one was looking and managed to hoist himself onto the conveyor belt for a blissful toasty ride. But all those Swedish smorgasbords had taken their toll. The massive trucker was too heavy for the belt and the motor shut down, leaving him stuck in the 360-degree oven!

Luckily, the oven operator noticed the stoppage and was able to rescue the man from searing heat before he sustained serious damage. Following the incident, Sweden's Work Environment Authority offered the oven operator counseling to work through the shock he suffered, and intends to carry out a risk assessment of surveillance around the shrink ovens. Apparently they are too tempting to leave unguarded.

MEDIA REFERENCES

"'360-degree oven.'  Circular oven?"
"Common sense can be shrink-wrapped too.

DarwinAwards.com © 1994 - 2020
Submitted by: Mark
Reference: Fox News, The Local, Sweden's News in English

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