This week and last week I’ve spent days in the field. It’s an old service station site, where they used to store fuel in underground storage tanks. The storage tanks leaked so the soil is contaminated with hydrocarbons. We’re drilling 15 metre deep holes until we hit the bedrock — and the soil we pull up at the bottom is still saturated with hydrocarbons.

Personal protective equipment I have to wear at this site:

• Hard hat, to protect my head against objects dropped by excavators
• Ski-standard jacket, to protect me from Melbourne’s most recent cold snap
• High visibility vest, so I don’t get run over
• Steel-capped boots, so if my feet are run over or I step on sharp objects, the boots aren’t pierced
• Ear plugs, to protect my hearing around the drilling rigs
• Safety glasses, so flying shrapnel doesn’t make me blind
• Respirator, so I don’t faint from the fumes

Check it out.