There are a few things that have a pucker-factor beyond most sane peoples limit. A few people do die every year from accidents handling hazardous chemicals. Some have a bit of time to regret their mistakes, as they say goodbye to friends and colleagues.
Every clown that gets cavalier with safety rules should read the story of Karen Wetterhahn. I can't think of a worse accident except maybe Louis Slotin, as it reads like it is strait out of horror fiction.
Some scientists literally die for their work. Have a wonderful day =)
> Every clown that gets cavalier with safety rules should read the story of Karen Wetterhahn.
I don't understand what you are saying. Karen Wetterhahn meticulously observed all known precautions at the time. Her death was terrible, but as far as we know zero "clowning" was involved. Shouldn't someone who "gets cavalier with safety rules" study cases where someone gets hurt after they "gets cavalier with safety rules"? There is plenty of those.
The lesson of the Karen Wetterhahn incident is that "Do everything right and by the book? The gru can steal eat your face." Not really the thing clowns should focus on.
"Someone who followed every known rule perfectly still died horribly" should especially give the people who get cavalier about the known rules some pause.
I don't know. It doesn't do it for me. It makes me think "why bother with all this crap if. Even if you do them and you will die a sad and painful death".
There are much simpler, cleaner stories if you want to impart a message about the importance of PPE: Barry Weatherall was cleaning a pipe with sulphuric acid. He used PPE initially while performing the procedure, but removed it to do some paper work, and then went back to check on the progress without PPE. The acid exploded in his face and he become blind for life.[1]
It is a sad true story. Much cleaner than the Karen Wetterhahn one.
The message of the Karen Wetterhahn incident is "don't assume that just because you have PPE it is the right PPE for that task". While the message of the Barry Weatherall story is "wear your PPE".
The very first day I showed up for grad school, the entire hospital was closed off by men in hazmat suits and a bunch of firefighters. I proceeded to the central office of my program, where more men with hazmat suits were wandering around, and a guy was being treated in my program's office for injuries.
It turned out they were doing "spring cleaning" and somebody accidentally jiggled an old bottle of ether in a fume hood, and unfortunately the old ether must have had some free radicals, which led to an explosion. It blew out all the windows in the room (which were 20-30 feet away) and the chemist was only saved because he was wearing safety equipment (he still had permanent scars on his face years later).
Every clown that gets cavalier with safety rules should read the story of Karen Wetterhahn. I can't think of a worse accident except maybe Louis Slotin, as it reads like it is strait out of horror fiction.
Some scientists literally die for their work. Have a wonderful day =)