I started working in high-volume breakfast joints at 14 years old, and at 30 now I suppose that means I've spent over half my life surrounded by half-asleep yet caffeine-juiced monkeys, who wildly swing scorching hot egg pans full of bacon fat in one hand, while clumsily brandishing dull chef's knives in the other. Needless to say, at this point all the real estate from my elbows to my fingertips is certified heat-resistant, kevlar-plated, and hideous.
Don't get me wrong: I'm not careless. I was careless--at least for the first few years of my career when I accumulated a solid base of knife scars--before I fully gained the respect you need for both your cutlery and the blistering temperatures of your environment. Still, caution and respect will only go so far. While I can say with confidence that I haven't cut myself in well over a year (cut as in an actual cut, not an incidental ding), the burns are still always there, looming on the horizon, just waiting to brighten your day.
Case Study #1: Yesterday, I went to stir a pot of black beans another cook had left simmering on my stove. Mind you, I didn't peer into the pot as I did it, or do it distracted and hastily. Still, the stars aligned just right at that moment: the beans gurgled and a taught bubble broke just as the metal paddle twisted through them, and a single errant glop of scorching legume magma flung like a missile over the lip of the pot, through the air, and landed directly on my eyeball. Note I didn't say eye-AREA. It hit my eye-BALL. Ouch.
Case Study #2: A few months ago, a long-time friend and co-worker was kneeling in front of the fryer, giving it a solid cleaning. Another co-worker, who is no longer a part of our staff, was scrubbing the griddle to his side. She was sloppy, inattentive, and rushed, and as she jammed the red scrubber against the side of the grill amidst the gallons of oil she used to clean it, naturally a geyser of oil erupted up onto her hands and--whoops!--over the side and all over my poor friend's unexpecting head. Haha!
Obviously we long-timers can't make a big deal out of incidents like this. We rarely notice the little ones, and more often than not, we brag about the big ones. Still, it only goes to show that you can try as hard as you want, be as cautious as you can, and you'll still get burned.
Welcome to the club!