My co-worker clips their nails at their desk. How do I make them stop?

September 5, 2025 — 5.01am

I sit in an open workplace environment. My colleague has a habit of clipping their fingernails at their desk. Firstly, the sound is irritating. Secondly, I’m fully expecting a nail clip to fling over the workstation divider and land on my desk (or on my head!). For me, clipping nails is a process that should happen at home, in private, in the bathroom. Not in the office.

I’m not the only one who can hear the clip clip clip. It freaks out everyone else around us. I’m getting to the point where I think they might even start to clip their toenails! How do I handle this disgusting behaviour?

Everyone should feel at ease when they step into their place of work. But there are limits.Credit: John Shakespeare

This is one of those classic Work Therapy questions where the office behaviour is annoying enough to get on people’s nerves, but not so egregious that it warrants a dressing down. In fact, it sounds like you’re wrestling with what so many readers wrestle with: the question of how to bring an irritation to an end without causing unnecessary hurt or embarrassment.

Now, fingernails are one thing – and I can see how the noise and the possibility of having one shoot towards you, would be disconcerting. But toenails! Urgh! That’s an entirely different level of disgusting!

It’s interesting that you think it might come to that. I’m assuming that’s not just your dark imagination at play. If it is a genuine possibility, it suggests to me that this person is comfortable in the office. And on the face of it, that’s a good thing.

Everyone should feel at ease when they step into their place of work. But maybe there’s too much of a good thing: there’s a huge difference between a feeling of contentment and a feeling that you can do whatever you want whenever you want with no thought of others.

Part of the reason this behaviour has continued unabated is because Clippi Longstocking fails to realise their conduct is affecting others.

So, should you shake this person out of their apparent state of entitlement? It might be tempting, but my advice would be no – two wrongs and all that jazz. I do, however, think they need a gentle reminder that everyone’s comfort is important; not just their own.

You could do that with a cordial chat somewhere private. Or you could try something a touch less direct – and a little bit more procedural?

Most of us have come across OH&S policies in our work lives – and many of us will have rolled our eyes at how seemingly inflexible or impractical they can be. Perhaps this is a rare opportunity to use that inflexibility to your advantage.

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My advice is to bring the problem up with your HR team, your OH&S officer or your manager, but instead of saying “This person is clipping their nails and I don’t like it”, say “This person is clipping their nails and I’m worried about copping one in the eye.”

Or, if you worry this person is so sensitive even the slightest provocation might set them off, go with something even more benign: “This person is clipping their nails, and I’m worried they might cut themselves.”

If your OH&S policy is enforced with any rigour at all, someone will have to take your concern seriously. And action should quickly follow.

As I mentioned at the start of the column, part of the reason this behaviour has continued unabated is because Clippi Longstocking fails to realise their conduct is affecting others. But bringing this to their attention isn’t easy – nobody wants to be the person who comes across as the office nagger.

To put it another way, the discomfort of having nails flying left, right and centre seems to be eclipsed by the discomfort of telling a colleague to stop doing that exasperating thing.

By taking the OH&S route, you remove the need for confrontation. The problem goes from being a personal one, which may turn into a dangerously prickly situation, to being an administrative one.

Send your questions to Work Therapy by emailing [email protected]

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