DevonHunter, it's a damn good demo to others as to what can happen in a moment of absent mindedness, and you were very lucky!
As you are now aware, a gun, loaded or not, safety on, or not should always be pointing in a safe direction. It seems like another rule, but it becomes habit after a while. I'm reliably informed that shotguns have a "friction" arrangement for the safety catch, which can and do fail! (perhaps someone can embellish this)
On an organised shoot, you can be ejected for any unsafe behaviour.
I'm with woodchip......prefer it alone!
Safe hunting!