• Question: What is the most extreme precaution you have had to take whilst working with dangerous materials and why?

    Asked by Corcks to Ellen, Elliot, Hazel, Rupesh, Thomas on 13 Jun 2016. This question was also asked by 972bsmf33.
    • Photo: Thomas Biggans

      Thomas Biggans answered on 13 Jun 2016:

      I work with radioactive materials so we have to take precautions all the time. We use lead shields to protect us from the radiation these shields can be made in many different ways some are just square blocks we put between us and the source others are put into aprons or glasses that we can wear.

      We also have to be careful not to get any of the source on us if we do then we are contaminated. In the radiopharmacy we wear clean suits (kind of like a onesie), boots, gloves, mask and hat to avoid contamination but also to stop any germs we might be carrying getting mixed in with the drugs!

    • Photo: Elliot Jokl

      Elliot Jokl answered on 13 Jun 2016:

      I don’t work with anything as dangerous as Thomas, I think!

      Probably the harshest chemical I use is called Trizol, which is used to extract proteins, DNA and RNA from cells and tissue samples. Since it is designed to break up cells, you reeeeallly don’t want to get it on yourself. But the combination of gloves, labcoat and goggles is all you really need to stop that from happening!

    • Photo: Ellen Gill

      Ellen Gill answered on 15 Jun 2016:

      I’ve had to wear two full layers of overalls while entering contaminated areas in a power plant. When you leave you have to veerrrry carefully peel everything off without touching the outsides to be safe. It gets sweaty, but some areas require breathing equipment as well, and I’ve never had to go in those bits fortunately!

    • Photo: Hazel Garvie-Cook

      Hazel Garvie-Cook answered on 16 Jun 2016:

      When working with really powerful lasers, I had to wear googles which help to block out the really powerful light from the laser. I also had to take off my watch and any jewellery which might reflect the laser light into someone’s eye. The beam of laser light is generally kept at around waist height on a lab table. So when I dropped something on the floor, I couldn’t bend down to pick it up. By bending down, my eye level would have been at the same height as the laser beam, so the laser beam could have gotten into my eye. Lasers that powerful can cause permanent and server damage to eyesight.

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