Having previously worked in machine shops for years I got into the habit of wearing safety glasses.
The funniest 'pliers story' that I've heard is one that a former manager use to tell....a guy was trying to get a connector loose in some electronic gear, using some hemostsats. The hemostats slipped off, came up, and somehow he grabbed the strip of skin between his nostrils. It hurt, and evidently due to reflexes he clamped the hemostats shut, which then really hurt, so he then pulled them away, ripping a piece of skin out of hose, which instantly produced a stream of blood like stuck pig. The manager said that it all happened so quickly that people were stunned, and just watching the guy dance around and screaming for a bit.