-
Asked by rays485bar to Steve, Sam, Polly, Peter, Paul, Mickella, Luke, Lizzie, Laura on 9 Jun 2023.
-
Ferran Brosa Planella answered on 9 Jun 2023:
It depends a lot on the area of science you think of. For example, in batteries, some experiments can be dangerous. However, there are a lot of measures into place that even if the experiment goes wrong no one gets hurt.
-
-
Aneta Glab answered on 9 Jun 2023:
It can depend on various factors such as the type of research being conducted and the safety measures in place. However, some of the more hazardous jobs in science include working with radioactive materials, handling infectious agents or biotoxins, and conducting research in extreme environments such as deep sea or outer space.
-
John Grasmeder answered on 9 Jun 2023:
It depends. In industry we work hard to make sure everything is as safe as possible – we don’t want to hurt ourselves or the people in our company, it’s no fun being involved in an accident. We spend a lot of time thinking about potential hazards, like exposure to dangerous chemicals, radiation, heat and so on, and figure out how to either not use them or reduce the risks by developing “safe systems of work”. Things would be a lot more dangerous if we didn’t do all these things.
So perhaps the most dangerous jobs in science are those where you work for a company or organisation which doesn’t spend time figuring out how to do things safely. -
Sharron Kenny answered on 9 Jun 2023:
the answer to this will be different for every area of science
for me its using Hydrofluoric acid. ( they use HF in a famous tv show breaking bad to hide bodies by digesting them)
we use it to digest silica based catalyst. one drop of the acid on the skin can be fatal as it effects the Calcium balance in the body and has potential to leech calcium from bones very quickly and yes over time it will digest bones but it likes metals too which is why we need it.BUT our use is very very safe and controlled we wear lots of protective equipment. have antidote sprays and cream on standby at all times and have a neutralising agent to add to the experiment just before we handle it that should remove all active hydrofluoric acid and make it safe.
i guess the answer is that it can be dangerous but it does not have to be. it can also be useful if used with care.
-
Peter Ellis answered on 9 Jun 2023:
No jobs in science should be dangerous – we go to a lot of trouble to make sure that we are safe!
-
Luke Humphrey answered on 12 Jun 2023:
This is a great question. You might have heard that “most accidents happen at home”. The reason for this is that when people deal with dangerous things, they make sure to be safe, but when people assume they are safe, they are more likely to make dangerous mistakes. In science, we perform risk assessments to make sure that experiments are as safe as possible.
I think that the most dangerous jobs in science are probably those for companies that cut corners on safety, this can sometimes happen indirectly when people are pressured to produce results on a tight deadline. When you run into a problem on a project, you generally have to compromise on time, money, or safety. It is important that we never compromise on safety, even if this means costing more time or money.
Even when we work as safely as possible, there are still plenty of jobs that require people to take on personal risks. Often, these jobs include extra pay which is called “hazard pay”. A good example of this is saturation diving, in which people will spend long periods of time working at extreme depths under the ocean, which can be hazardous due to the extreme pressure at these depths. Some similar examples of scientists working in extreme conditions are astronauts working in the upper atmosphere or in space, and scientists working in the extreme cold of the arctic.
Comments