For years OSHAs have had to deal with those who will wear jewellery while operating machine tools. Personally, I have only worn a wristwatch with a strap I can break by pulling away if it gets caught.

In our modern world we have new problems. What do we do with folk who have tattoos and body-piercing? For mine, they can have as many tattoos as they like as long as they are not fresh - tell the tattooee to get tattooed at the start of their holiday. However, body-piercing is a horse of a totally different colour. Getting the ring in your nose (or lip, or wherever else you have a ring or pin inserted) caught in your machine might just be bad luck. Getting infected is something else.

Does anyone have opinions, horror stories, theories or other thoughts?

I think that if your body parts that are pierced are getting close enough to your machinery to get caught, there is something wrong in the first place. Most piercing is close enough to your body not to expose significant increased risk.

However long hair, loose clothing, or other large dangly bits about your body (such as tool belts) present much greater risk.

Telling the bikey dude with a pony tail that he needs to wear a hair net could also present its own risks !

Geaster

I agree about the bikey dude!
When New Zealand made it compulsory for hair to be short or confined close to the head some folks considered that an intrusion. When they figured out that being a skin-head was okay but being a skinned-head was unpleasant they came round.

As usual, however, it was peer group teasing that was the main problem. I found that the bikey dudes had ways of handling that sort of a problem.