As for finger-ripping, I've only ever once received a cut from an edge examination. That was finding out the hard way (i.e. whilst winding at about 1,000ft per minute) that some moron had joined two sections of film in the middle of a reel by stapling them. The staple parted company with the film and gouged quite an impressive cut in my index finger. Incidentally, if any British reader has recently received a print of 'L'Ennui' and wondered why one of the reels was covered in blood, well, that's why.

Shocks from buildup of static charge should be much less since the introduction of Kodak VISION Print Film, since it has a conductive antistatic layer on the backside to help dissipate the charge. You can easily see the difference by rubbing a piece of older film to generate static --- it will pick up dust and dirt, and stick to the side of a metal cabinet because of the static charge. The new Kodak VISION Print Film will not hold a static charge, so it stays much cleaner and "shock free".

If you handle older prints or prints on other stocks, you might try wearing conductive shoes on a conductive antistatic mat, or use a conductive grounded antistatic wrist band to bleed off any static buildup:
Example of Anti-Static Wrist Strap

------------------
John P. Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Worldwide Technical Services, Entertainment Imaging
Eastman Kodak Company
Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7419
Rochester, New York, 14650-1922 USA
Tel: 716-477-5325 Cell: 716-781-4036 Fax: 716-722-7243
E-Mail: john.pytlak@kodak.com
Web site: http://www.kodak.com/go/motion

The new film is much better about static but I still have been shocked, although nowhere nearly as bad.

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It's also very important to keep the film or leader from contacting a dirty surface like the floor or a dirty work surface. Keep your rewind bench or makeup table free of clutter, and damp wipe any dust or debris that may accumulate during the workday.