You need to take extreme care when using paper shredders. Especially if you are wearing a head scarf or a long neck tie. This near miss incident was caused by a loose fitting head scarf becoming entangled with the cutting blades within the shredder. Shredders normally activate on contact with paper or any material. This near miss incident with a head scarf could have lead to serious injury if the individual had not been able to get free quickly (i.e., strangulation, asphyxiation).