# Unexpectedly hazardous things **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 1, 2024, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpectedly-hazardous-things/996936 "2024-02-01T00:19:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2024, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpectedly-hazardous-things/996936/21 "2024-02-01T06:43:06Z")
Go eat a termite. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2024, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpectedly-hazardous-things/996936/22 "2024-02-01T07:15:45Z")
$19 a month ---
**Author:** ![stui\_magpie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stui_magpie/32/11010_2.png) [@stui\_magpie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stui_magpie)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2024, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpectedly-hazardous-things/996936/23 "2024-02-01T07:28:30Z")
working ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2024, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpectedly-hazardous-things/996936/24 "2024-02-01T07:42:46Z")
Skritching my cat on her belly. The first 99 times are fun. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2024, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpectedly-hazardous-things/996936/25 "2024-02-01T08:05:41Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Not just collapses. I _vaguely_ remember an incident in Connecticut in which sewer gases killed a couple of telephone company employees in an underground vault. I can’t find any articles on that incident, but here’s a [Washington Post article](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/01/18/three-utility-workers-descend-to-their-deaths-in-florida-manhole-overcome-by-fumes/) about three dead utility company employees in Florida. There was a case in Israel last summer where two firefighters went down a hole in the ground to rescue a worker who had fallen in; all three of them were killed by fumes. > **[Israel pit disaster: Two firefighters die trying to save Palestinian who fell...](https://www.ynetnews.com/article/rki11kou3n)** > > Witness says Dekel Marciano and Adnan Assad attempted to pull the Palestinian worker out from a pit before losing consciousness; hospital says firemen arrived in critical condition ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2024, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpectedly-hazardous-things/996936/26 "2024-02-01T13:57:30Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Drunk chain sawing. I use my chainsaw fairly often. Never drunk, but I always hit my pen a few times to relax. Cutting down standing trees is crazy dangerous. I want to be sober. But totally straight me would never consider firing up a chainsaw, so a few puffs to relax just a hair is necessary. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2024, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpectedly-hazardous-things/996936/27 "2024-02-01T14:24:04Z")
Deep frying a turkey. Not as dangerous as drunk driving, but every year people are injured and structures damaged. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2024, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpectedly-hazardous-things/996936/28 "2024-02-01T14:29:50Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > Drunk driving seems like an obvious example I wouldn’t by any means call this _ **unexpectedly** _ hazardous. Coincidentally I just posted in another thread about the dangers of wintergreen oil (which is chemically related to aspirin). [A single teaspoon (5 mL) of methyl salicylate contains approximately 6 g of salicylate, which is equivalent to almost twenty 300 mg aspirin tablets](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methyl_salicylate#Safety_and_toxicity). Wintergreen is alos used as a topical pain reliever, in products like Bengay. From the same article I linked above: > A seventeen-year-old cross-country runner at Notre Dame Academy on Staten Island died in April 2007 after her body absorbed methyl salicylate through excessive use of topical muscle-pain relief products (using multiple patches against the manufacturer’s instructions). … > [@kayaker](#): > > I use my chainsaw fairly often. Never drunk, but I always hit my pen a few times to relax. Cutting down standing trees is crazy dangerous. I cut down several trees with a chainsaw before I ever heard of the danger of [barber chairing](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9O7H9qWdquk). I knew the proper way to cut them down-- by cutting a wedge on the side you want the tree to fall toward, then a horizontal cut on the other side. But apparently if the wedge cut is not as close as possible to 90 degrees, the chance increases for the tree to suddenly and violently split vertically 😯 ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2024, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpectedly-hazardous-things/996936/29 "2024-02-01T14:42:57Z")
> [@solost](#): > > I cut down several trees with a chainsaw before I ever heard of the danger of [barber chairing](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9O7H9qWdquk) That’s just one of many things that can go wrong felling trees. I had two locusts, one had fallen against the other and had torsion going on. Neither tree was huge, but I did not like the situation. I told my gf it was a job for a professional. She didn’t understand. But when the guy came, he studied the situation and almost declined. He managed to do the job, but used many ropes and took his time. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2024, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpectedly-hazardous-things/996936/30 "2024-02-01T14:56:28Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > I had two locusts, one had fallen against the other and had torsion going on. Neither tree was huge, but I did not like the situation. I have a fireplace insert that puts out enough heat to warm almost my entire house in the winter. I used to respond to Craigslist ‘free firewood’ ads, which were usually people who had a fallen tree and wanted to get rid of it for free. Great way to get free firewood if you’re willing to put in a bit of work. I showed up to one of these with my trusty chainsaw, and a storm had uprooted two _ **enormous** _ oaks, trunks like over 2’ diameter at base, which had fallen together and were precariously balanced against each other, kind of like your situation. I took one look and said to myself NOPE. Meanwhile, dads with their teenage sons were coming by. That whole deal was a dead amateur waiting to happen. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2024, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpectedly-hazardous-things/996936/31 "2024-02-01T14:59:04Z")
> [@solost](#): > > the danger of [barber chairing](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9O7H9qWdquk) Okay, I give up: why is it called that? ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2024, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpectedly-hazardous-things/996936/32 "2024-02-01T15:02:01Z")
Trenchwork, on a construction site. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2024, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpectedly-hazardous-things/996936/33 "2024-02-01T15:03:34Z")
I actually tried googling that once myself, but there’s surprisingly little info on how it got its name. My guess is because the way the tree splits up the middle vertically is sorta similar to the way a barber chair can be raised up…(?) ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2024, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpectedly-hazardous-things/996936/34 "2024-02-01T15:09:01Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > Working in enclosed areas (think large storm drain or under-street vault) and skipping any of the safety procedures. I think maybe the most unexpected of these is the chain locker on a big ship. That’s the chamber where all of the anchor chain is stored when the anchor is hauled up off of the sea floor. No chemicals in there, no passages for fumes to seep in from other places, so you might not expect any danger. The hazard happens when the chain rusts and consumes the oxygen in the locker, resulting in an oxygen-deficient environment. There’s no smell to warn you: you climb down in there without your own O2 supply, and if the ambient O2 concentration is low enough, you pass out and fall all the way in. If your shipmates don’t understand the hazard, they’ll try to save you, and you’ll all die. [https://www.nautinst.org/resources-page/200956-fatalities-in-enclosed-spaces.html](https://www.nautinst.org/resources-page/200956-fatalities-in-enclosed-spaces.html) > Three experienced seamen died inside the chain locker on board a vessel. The first two were overcome while tying off an anchor chain to prevent it from rattling in the spurling pipe. The third to die was the first rescuer who entered the chain locker wearing an emergency escape breathing device (EEBD). He was soon constrained by the device and removed its hood. All three men died as a result of the lack of oxygen inside the chain locker caused by the ongoing corrosion of its steel structure and anchor chain. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2024, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpectedly-hazardous-things/996936/35 "2024-02-01T15:14:06Z")
Also farms generally. There a lot of things that can kill you unexpectedly on a farm. Slurry and silage pits (that can drown you or suffocate you with fumes), granaries (that can drown you and freaking explode), heavy equipment that can suck you in, etc. etc. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2024, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpectedly-hazardous-things/996936/36 "2024-02-01T15:23:40Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > Also farms generally. In the last ten years I know two guys killed while hobby-farming. One was a retired guy who was brush-hogging a field. He fell off his tractor and got shredded. The second guy was actually a neighbor. He was driving his tractor on a slope and it rolled. He received crushing injuries that were initially survivable, but he was alone. Several days later a UPS driver making a delivery saw him. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2024, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpectedly-hazardous-things/996936/37 "2024-02-01T18:17:44Z")
> [@solost](#): > > > [@Lumpy](#): > > > > Drunk driving seems like an obvious example > > I wouldn’t by any means call this _ **unexpectedly** _ hazardous. It could be for drunk drivers who get lulled into a false sense of security after driving blind drunk several times and nothing bad happened; until they get t-boned by a semi-trailer truck. > [@solost](#): > > I cut down several trees with a chainsaw before I ever heard of the danger of [barber chairing](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9O7H9qWdquk). I knew the proper way to cut them down-- by cutting a wedge on the side you want the tree to fall toward, then a horizontal cut on the other side. But apparently if the wedge cut is not as close as possible to 90 degrees, the chance increases for the tree to suddenly and violently split vertically 😯 At least from the linked video it looks less to me like the cutter did anything wrong so much as the tree was already internally fissured and cutting it at the base allowed the sections to separate. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2024, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpectedly-hazardous-things/996936/38 "2024-02-01T18:39:33Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > At least from the linked video it looks less to me like the cutter did anything wrong so much as the tree was already internally fissured and cutting it at the base allowed the sections to separate I’m sure it’s possible to do everything by the book when cutting a big tree down and still have something unexpected like that happen. The guy in that video is lucky the breaking tree trunk parts fell in the other direction, because it doesn’t look like he would have gotten away in time! ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2024, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpectedly-hazardous-things/996936/39 "2024-02-01T18:50:45Z")
We call it “barber poling” I assumed it was because they are twisted around in some way. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2024, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpectedly-hazardous-things/996936/40 "2024-02-01T19:12:08Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > Do you have me under surveillance? We probably need to add “_surveilling_ someone who is drunk chainsawing” to the list. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpectedly-hazardous-things/996936.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpectedly-hazardous-things/996936.md?page=3)