Splinters are poisoned arrows - get First Aid
A giant red hand is pierced by arrows shot by tiny archers standing on a packing crate. The metaphor casts a splinter as a poisoned arrow to warn workers of infection and urge immediate first aid; the danger imagery is the fear-appeal tell.
Propaganda techniques used in this poster
- Date
- 1942
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- Ministry of Labour and National Service, produced by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents; artist Pat Keely; printed by Loxley Bros. Ltd.
- Region
- Western and Central Europe
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- State
- Regime
- Churchill Government
- Leader
- Winston Churchill
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Warn or inform
- Themes
- Health, Labor, Home front
- Event
- World War II
- Leader
- Winston Churchill
- Source
- Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- Source
- U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 44, World War II Foreign Posters, retrieved October 3, 2026
- Rights
- Public domain (UK Crown copyright, 50 years from publication, expired before 1996; no URAA restoration)
Ministry of Labour and National Service / Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents; artist Pat Keely, 1942. US National Archives, NARA ID 44267033 (44-PF-382b).
Text on the object
SPLINTERS are poisoned arrows - get First Aid Issued by the Ministry of Labour and National Service and produced by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, Terminal House, 52, Grosvenor Gardens, London, S.W.1. ML/71 Printed by LOXLEY BROS. LTD. [signature in the artwork:] Pat Keely '42
