• Question: Is your job dangerous

    Asked by sard520foot to Alana M, rachaelcroft, gokulkrishnaradhakrishnan on 11 Mar 2025. This question was also asked by eeee, navy520harp.
    • Photo: Alana McNulty

      Alana McNulty answered on 11 Mar 2025:

      I work in nuclear, and the nuclear industry can be dangerous, but the risks are incredibly well controlled to make sure we’re all very safe. Whether that’s shielding to protect us from irradiation, or protective clothing and equipment, there are lots of safeguards put in place to ensure the risks to workers are super low.

      For the most radioactive waste, work is performed remotely, so operators can be shielded from any harmful radiation.

      There is radioactivity all around us in the outside world – whether its from normal rocks, flying in an aeroplane, having an X-ray or eating bananas – often my visits to nuclear sites give me no more of a radiation dose than going for a walk in Cornwall (where natural background radioactivity is higher because of the type of bedrock there).

Comments

  • Photo: sandrarobertson

    sandrarobertson commented on :

    Any job can be dangerous if you don’t follow the rules. I wouldn’t say my job was dangerous, but some of the chemicals and materials I work with are, if not handled the right, stored the right way, or if i don’t wear the right personal protective equipment (PPE) before I work with them. It is really important to read up on what the dangers are before you use something new. During Covid-19 when we were trying to develop tests to detect the infection early, so people could be isolated or medicated, we had to take special precautions as we were still learning what the dangers were for everyone, and still trying to understand why some people got really unwell and other’s weren’t.

  • Photo: melissau

    melissau commented on :

    Working as a vet can be dangerous in the sense that I can be injured interacting with an animal. Animals may be scared because they don’t understand what we’re trying to do or because they’re unwell or injured and as a result they may act in a way that injures us, despite us doing all we can to avoid this. If I get bitten by a cat it’s recommended that I see a doctor within 24 hours to get antibiotics (I’m not allowed to prescribe them for myself) because of the bacteria in a cat’s mouth which can cause a serious infection to set in. If the infection is untreated, it is well known that this can be serious enough to require plastic surgery. When I’m working abroad I make sure that I’m vaccinated against rabies because this is a fatal disease which I could contract if I was bitten by an infected dog. Working as a vet with what UK vets call ‘large animals’ (generally farm animals and horses) is recognised as one of the jobs which is most likely to result in you being injured badly enough to go to hospital – because of their size and because we have to be close to them to do our job, if we get kicked or knocked over or stood on, the risk of serious injury is high. My leg was broken by a kick from a horse, needing surgery and several months unable to work – this injury didn’t happen when I was working, but it’s an example of the risks of being around large, heavy, potentially unpredictable animals.