Relationship Status with Safety: It's Complicated

DISCLAIMER: This is my personal relationship with safety. As a spoiler, most people in professions dealing with stuff like this would probably find my approach a bit cavalier. And they wouldn't be wrong. I therefore cannot recommend my approach to others in good conscience.

Every person must decide what level of risk in life they are willing to deal with.

This is just where I ended up.

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If you didn't know due to my Instagram (which you should totally check out *bats eyelashes*), one of my favorite hobbies is to use scientific solutions for certain applications in the household. For example, one of my current projects is whipping up a batch of some piranha solution to clean out a wine oxidizer with hard to reach spots.

Pictured: The molecular structure of piranha solution.

Piranha solution is a good (albeit overkill) choice for this application because it quickly eats through organic tissue. Not only is my home full of organic tissues like wood floors, I happen to be made of organic tissue. And because of this, there are recommended safety procedures that go along with handling this genuinely dangerous chemical. However, because this is not typically used in a household setting and is mainly used in labs and other scientific settings, many of the precautions (like having a full fume hood) are simply not possible - for both financial and practical reasons.

I have some friends in scientific professions. I can already hear them saying something along the lines of "Well, if you can't do the *proper* safety procedures, you shouldn't do it at all." As noted in the disclaimer, this isn't entirely wrong.

I have been asked a few times why I didn't go into a scientific profession if it is something I love. The funny reason I typically give is: Professionals have to "be precise" and "show their work" and "not throw things together and hope for the best." In reality, I refuse to believe that the powers of science should be restricted to the drivel that professionals deem "safe enough"™ for the general public. Amateurs have an important place in any community; the constraints of being within a profession stifles innovation because the same norms and routines have been beaten into practitioners by professors, governmental agencies, employers, etc.

But, completely ignoring safety precautions is a quick way to end up dead by your own hand. When I craft my safety mechanisms, here are some principles that I utilize.

Understand the Why

Just because you are dealing with science in an unconventional setting doesn't mean you shouldn't do your research. It is incredibly important to understand why safety precautions are in place. Though knowing potential hazards and their expected severity helps inform precautions, it is not an excuse for lacking understanding of the forces at play. If you don't know why something is dangerous, your solution for the side effects might not work the way you thought (or at all).

A common example of this is something lovingly called a "death cable". A death cable is a power cable with a male adapter on both ends. The rule among electricians is: If you know why it is called a death cable and you do, in fact, need it, go ahead. But if you don't know, don't touch it. Same is true with other forces. If you know why they are dangerous beyond a surface level, it will help you not kill yourself.

Pictured: A death cable is this thing on both sides of an extension cable.

Always have an "Abort" button

Approaching scientific solutions is about a lot of things, but it's not about being a hero that perseveres to the end of an experiment. If you are messing with something dangerous, have a way to bail. If dealing with electricity, build a kill switch. If dealing with chemicals, have something that can neutralize what you are working with. Without knowing how to build such mechanisms, one does not have an adequate understanding of what you are working with (see above).

Creative Solutions

Those writing safety guidelines have access to lab settings and may have not had to create tools for dealing with the hazards themselves - why reinvent the wheel if you have adequate standard safety equipment? In addition, employers in hazardous businesses are often beholden to insurance companies that require standardized safety. So, new or niche methods are simply not needed. In the home setup, innovation is a requirement.

For example, the piranha solution I am working on needs to be handled with gloves. Unfortunately, the solution also will eat through the gloves at my disposal. Instead of ignoring safety, I am going to pack the gloves with baking soda before I put them on, which will serve as protection. This isn't just some solution from nowhere either; the journal articles I reviewed all recommended using baking soda as a neutralizing agent (though, don't try at home; I can't recommend this, remember?).

Creative solutions can help bridge situations where you would otherwise have inadequate equipment.

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Safety is important. But I won't let a lack of formal equipment or training stop me. The powers science has uncovered are for everyone, not just professionals.