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Asked by sciencegeekjade to Laura, Lily, Mark, Paul, Sarah on 23 Jun 2010 in Categories: Scientist.
Question: In you life have you made in big mistakes in the lab that might of ended in hospital?
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Mark Roberts answered on 22 Jun 2010:
Thankfully I haven’t! – though one of the chemicals I work with [phenol] is very dangerous and if I spill more than a postage stamp size drop on me I’d have to go to hospital
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Sarah Bardsley answered on 22 Jun 2010:
Nope. I avoided any potential accidents when I did lab work. Being desk-based my biggest risk is back ache from not sitting up straight!
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Lily Asquith answered on 22 Jun 2010:
No. I worked with very high voltages a few years ago when I was working on a neutrino detector. I was so scared I would make a foolish mistake I had to go through a ridiculous checklist in my head every time I touched anything. I lived.
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Paul Roche answered on 23 Jun 2010:
I once threw a load of chemicals down a toilet to get rid of them, and they reacted with the water and blew up the toilet – water everywhere, and cracked toilet, but I managed to escape with nothing but a lot of embarrassment!
As an astronomer, they don’t let me near dangerous chemicals in a lab – but astronomer is apparently one of the most dangerous sciences, as we work at altitude, in the dark, all night, on high mountains – and then drive down the mountains, tired, and sometimes crash off them…or get squished by gigantic pieces of machinery (most telescopes weigh tens of tonnes).
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