• Question: what is the most dangerous thing that you have done for work?

    Asked by heidi to Alison, Alex, David, Thomas, hayleypincott on 8 Jun 2018.
    • Photo: David Mills

      David Mills answered on 8 Jun 2018:

      I used a mixture of nitric acid and hydrofluoric acid to etch silicon. It was nasty stuff. To make matters worse, we used alcohol in the mixture as a surfactant to release bubbles from the silicon. This reacted and meant the mixture become very unstable and couldn’t be kept.
      It did give some wonderful results, but I never want to be in the same lab as it again.

    • Photo: Hayley Pincott

      Hayley Pincott answered on 8 Jun 2018:

      Not very rock star I know but the most dangerous thing about my work are all the chemicals I use. Most of the chemicals I use are used to stop human tissue rotting so I use some pretty nasty things, the least hazardous is alcohol and the worst in my opinion is formalin because it causes cancer. I also use formic acid as we sometimes get jaws in so we need to remove the calcium from the bone before we can do anything with it. I use gloves, goggles, lab coat and handle over a downflow bench or extraction hood take away the fumes and this reduce the risks as best as possible.

    • Photo: Thomas Perriment

      Thomas Perriment answered on 10 Jun 2018:

      Ooh great question. A lot of the work geologists do is out in the wilderness which can often mean we are a long time from help, and have to cover some pretty dangerous terrain.

      I was climbing up a ridge on an ice-covered mountain in the Arctic, my colleagues and I were roped together for safety and one of them slipped. When you’re climbing up knife-edges on mountains (very narrow ridges, created by glaciers either side) you have to be roped together so that if one of you falls, the others can keep you on the mountain and prevent you from falling down.

      When my friend slipped, I had to jump down with my legs hanging off the other side and dig my ice-axe into the ice beneath our feet, so that we could climb up together at the same time. It’s super scary, and if you slip you’re in big trouble. But as with all branches of science, if you prepare properly, with the right training, gear, and attitude, you might be able to reduce the risk enough for whatever you want to do to be reasonably safe!

    • Photo: Alison Hughes

      Alison Hughes answered on 12 Jun 2018:

      I guess sample collecting is the most dangerous part of my job, although I thankfully have not had any dangerous experiences while diving. I can be a bit clumsy when I am distracted or tired and so I have had a couple of accidents, like inhaling a toxic gas, and had to go to hospital for that!

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