24 Amazon Workers Sent To Hospital After Robot Accidentally Unleashes Bear Spray 221
Joe_Dragon shares a report from ABC News: Twenty-four Amazon workers in New Jersey have been hospitalized after a robot accidentally tore a can of bear repellent spray in a warehouse, officials said. The two dozen workers were treated at five local hospitals, Robbinsville Township communications and public information officer John Nalbone told ABC News. One remains in critical condition and 30 additional workers were treated at the scene. The official investigation revealed "an automated machine accidentally punctured a 9-ounce bear repellent can, releasing concentrated Capsaican," Nalbone said. Capsaican is the major ingredient in pepper spray. The fulfillment center was given the all clear by Wednesday evening. "All of the impacted employees have been or are expected to be released from hospital within the next 24 hours. The safety of our employees is always our top priority and a full investigation is already underway. We'd like to thank all of the first responders who helped with today's incident," Amazon said in a statement Wednesday night.
I for one welcome... (Score:5, Insightful)
... people not make that joke.
What is really news here? A worker with a forklift could do this just as easily and readily as a robot.
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Having more people in the warehouse Ofste instead of robots won't make it any safer, it surely increases the number of affected people.
Re:I for one welcome... (Score:5, Interesting)
The only question arising here is if Amazon should handle such dangerous goods.
Uh, that's not the only question here. First one I would be asking is why a "non-lethal" form of defense would be considered "dangerous goods", and the next question would be where do you stop with the ban. A robot accidentally spilling common household chemicals can create lethal environments, not merely irritating ones. Any chemical under high pressure can present a risk of explosion.
Having more people in the warehouse Ofste instead of robots won't make it any safer, it surely increases the number of affected people.
Yeah, you're right. The only question Greed is asking is why there are any humans in warehouses. From a risk mitigation standpoint, humans are the ones specifically affected.
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why there are any humans in warehouses.
Simple, because humans are more flexible.
It is relatively easy to program robots to move standardised containers around a well-ordered warehouse. It is much harder to deal with the massive variation of individual items. So when an item needs to be moved between containers (including but not limited to ingress and egress) that is done by humans.
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When a human puts something in the wrong place, a robot hits it, ruptures a can of bear spray and every starts crying.
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As for a ban, maybe a ban on robots handling such things, at least until safety can be improved, is a good idea. We don't allow forklifts to carry certain things for the same reason.
.
Statistically, robots in these cases have less incidents per pallet moved than humans. I guarantee you too that in a modern warehouse nothing even remotely normal is getting unloaded from the truck put away to reserve by hand.
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No they shouldn't handle dangerous substances like these, which are inhumane anyway: time for Americans to stand up for the right to arm bears.
I only want bare arms in the summer.
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Bears are already some of the best armed creatures in the nature and to my knowledge, best armed animals on North American continent.
Not even a joke. Bears are horrifyingly powerful predators, both in terms of weaponry and armour. Those claws powered by the musculature of your typical brown bear has will inflict horrifying wounds. And there's a reason many people call things you hunt them with "bear guns". Typical hunting rifle has a significant chance of not being able to do more than seriously anger a bea
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On the other hand, bears mostly just want to be left alone, and are really neat to see as long as there's mutual respect.
Early this summer we had trouble with a sow and two yearling cubs who kept coming through the neighborhood. One day Amazon delivered some dog food, and within 10 minutes the cubs had discovered and started eating it. I was at work, but my wife was at home with her parents, our two kids, and two other kids over for a play date.
My wife rushed out and tried to chase off the cubs (mama bear w
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Yeah. Bears' arms are powerful weapons. We keep trying to ban them, but the darned constitution guarantees us a right to bear arms. I can't imagine why anyone would want them, with all that hair and all, but to each his/her own, I suppose.
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She's right though, bear spray would be excellent for attacking mountain bikers.
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Having more people in the warehouse Ofste instead of robots won't make it any safer
But having fewer people would make it safer.
The safest number of people is zero.
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The safest number is zero.
So, counting from the origin we get: the safest number, the lonliest number, the lonliest number after one, the number of strikes and you're out, the horsemen of the apocalypse, the alive number, the of one that's like half dozen of another, and the lucky number. I see why numbers eventually got names.
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There would be no risk if all the workers were replaced with robots.
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Anything that can start a chemical hazard should not be handled by robots.
Surely robots are better, as they're more disposable in the event of an incident.
Nobody sent the robot home when this one happened.
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Anything that can start a chemical hazard should not be handled by robots. Humans can make judgment calls on the spot far better than robots can.
Not really. I used to work in jewelry manufacture and often dealt with some pretty nasty chemicals. One time, I received a package with a large cut on the side, probably from a boxcutter. The contents were fairly inexpensive and compartmentalized so I wasn't interested in making a damage claim, but I informed the shipper of the damage and advised caution as the contents were hazardous and could be explosive if there were other residues on the floor of the truck.
His response? Told me he wasn't responsible, p
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Yeah, but with the worker it would be an accident. The robot is really probing for weaknesses. This is how it begins.
Re:I for one welcome... (Score:5, Funny)
Yeah, but with the worker it would be an accident. The robot is really probing for weaknesses. This is how it begins.
They're seeing how we react. First it's mace. Then it's accidentally driving a Waymo into a farmers market. It won't be long until robots are launching nuclear weapons... we'll all be dead before we realize it wasn't bugs- it was sentient AI killing us all. /true story
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What is really news here? A worker with a forklift could do this just as easily and readily as a robot.
Ya, but, robots don't get tired, don't need breaks, don't need benefits, don't complain, don't unionize, etc... -- and are just as disposable, like the society and economy we're creating.
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If a worker with a forklift did it, the forklift wouldn't be able to carry on its duty, as the operator would require medical attention.
The robot just needs a hose down to stop contamination spreading and can continue running with minimal down time.
Robots: 1
Squishy bags of meat: 0
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Tesla prohibits [popularmechanics.com] its employees from calling 911, even for much more serious incidents than bear spray.
How can that be legally possible?
In my country it is under punishment if you do not call an ambulance when it is needed.
Re:I for one welcome... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:I for one welcome... (Score:5, Informative)
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That would be completely illegal in my country.
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Security's procedure is to call call 911 immediately and have someone at the door to direct the emergency crew to the correct location. The alternative, is for some employee to call 911, the nurse never hears about it and can't provide first aid, and no one knows what to do with the ambulance that shows up at the door, wasting precious minutes. The building has 3 entrances and a loading dock, security would get the location (building letter, floor number, grid code for the nearest pillar) code for the ca
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If that is illegal in your country, than the law is counterproductive and will get people killed.
No it does not. It is the fastest way to get an ambulance. And it is forbidden for all numbers to be interfered with from third parties. WTF, I need to call the police but the hostages in the call center can not route the call because: they are hostages?
First of all: the relevant institutions know exactly where to go. That is their damn job! The building has 3 entrances and a loading dock, security would get the
Re:I for one welcome... (Score:4, Informative)
You mean in your country it is illegal to call the people who can get there quickest? It is illegal to, instead of having some random person calling 911 (or whatever), have a person who is trained and can provide the exact information the responders need in order to enter the property and locate the person with the problem? It is illegal to have the path to the person cleared of foot and vehicular traffic before the responders get there? Either that is complete bullshit, or you live in some really screwed up country.
I'll give you an example. My wife works at a large high school, and medical emergencies are not uncommon. Proper procedure is to call 911 from a school phone, which calls the office. The office sends the nurse to the problem, puts the school on lockdown so the halls are clear, and calls emergency services to provide clear information on where the problem is and how to get there. A few years ago a teacher appeared to be having a heart attack, and rather than follow proper procedure, someone decided to use their cell phone to call 911. The ambulance showed up at the main entrance, and the security people had no idea why they were there or where they were supposed to be going. Worse, it was class-changing time, so all the hallways were clogged with a few thousand students. By the time they got everything sorted out it was almost 20 minutes from the call, and the teacher was in pretty bad shape. So they did, in fact, make a new rule to help with this. If a 911 call comes in and the person gives the location as the high school (or one of several large business campuses), the 911 operator wll direct them to hang up and call the local emergency number. When a similar situation happened a few years later, the school nurse was providing aid less than 2 minutes after the call, the ambulance arrived on site within 5 minutes, and the ambulance crew was treating the person within 7 minutes.
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You mean in your country it is illegal to call the people who can get there quickest?
No, you can call who ever you want. But it is illegal to reroute 911/112/110 to some where else.
No idea why you pretend to misunderstand this.
and calls emergency services to provide clear information on where the problem is and how to get there. ...
Interesting. In my country the emergency service KNOWS how to get there, that is their job. And to make that possible big institutions file building plans to them
If you think yo
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That would be completely illegal in my country.
Then isn't it convenient that we are not talking about a company in your country?
In THIS COUNTRY it is normal for large companies to maintain their own emergency response teams to act as first responders and to coordinate with the authorities.
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In THIS COUNTRY it is normal for large companies to maintain their own emergency response teams to act as first responders and to coordinate with the authorities. ...
Yes, by rerouting 911 to an internal number. Which makes it impossible to actually call an emergency service if there is a real emergency
Smart ...
Re:I for one welcome... (Score:4, Insightful)
Yes, but.
It also allows the employer to prevent publicity of anything unflattering that goes on in the facility.
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If the tabloids want to hear about the industrial accident, there are likely many employee witnesses who can sell them the story under condition of anonymity. Seems more practical than ambulance-chasing reporters anyway.
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Oh bullshit. If the situation is serious enough then emergency services will have to be called anyway. And if the siuation is not serious enough to require emergency services, then it is better for everyone if emergency services are not tied up with some 'unflattering' but non-emergency problem.
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When a worker gets smashed by a car part on Tesla’s factory floor, medical staff are forbidden from calling 911 without permission.
The electric carmaker’s contract doctors rarely grant it, instead often insisting that seriously injured workers – including one who severed the top of a finger – be sent to the emergency room in a Lyft.
“The goal of the clinic was to keep as many patients off of the books as possible,” said Anna Watson, a physician assistant who worked at Tesla’s medical clinic for three weeks in August.
Watson has nearly 20 years of experience as a medical professional, examining patients, diagnosing ailments and prescribing medications. She’s treated patients at a petroleum refinery, a steel plant, emergency rooms and a trauma center. But she said she’s never seen anything like what’s happening at Tesla.
Inside Tesla’s factory, a medical clinic designed to ignore injured workers [revealnews.org]
Re:I for one welcome... (Score:4, Informative)
In many facilities, particularly large warehouses and tall office buildings, calling 911 will tell the operator the geo-coordinates of the facility, but not the floor or where in a facility the actual problem is. So, for example, in my company (HQ in a 30 story building), we have well known and well publicized alternate emergency numbers and processes that uses our internal phone system's logic to determine, down to the room, where the building emergency number was dialed. Trained first responders that are employees of the company have full and complete access to all locations in the facility and can rapidly escort external fire, police and EMT responders to the appropriate location.
Same process for all of our warehouses and smaller facilities. You have the option of dialing 911 on your cell phone, but we all know it will be more efficient to use the internal system because of the logistics involved in getting responders where they need to be.
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I have 110 for police and ambulance :D
And 112 for Firefighters and ambulance.
There seems to be a disagreement what to call if you only want ambulance :D
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The UK does. Which I found out by accident, by misdialling a number starting with 11...
The lady that answered was not amused. I was well behaved and didn't tell her she answered the wrong fucking number.
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It's 0118 999 881 999 119 7253 [youtube.com]
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So you admit the UK is better than the USA, as they use 999 for emergency services.
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I agree completely that 999 is a better emergency number, toddlers in particular can easily press 9 multiple times until they get help. We spend a lot of time in the US in schools training little children that it's 911 where we could be telling them to push 9 multiple times.
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999 was quicker and easier to dial on a rotary dial phone
It's also easiest to dial via the hook switch if the exchange still supports pulse dialing. It's simply 3 quick pulses.
Could be worse, here in New Zealand it's 111
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Can you remember the jingle?
Re:I for one welcome... (Score:4, Interesting)
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Maybe they could program the robot to run around in circles screaming when this happens? It would let the other workers empathize with it and realize that they're not the only with with burning red eyes.
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Once you've punctured the can (needed for sound, smell or mist), its far too late to do anything.
Fear Not (Score:2)
The affected workers were promptly treated with capsaicin patches for pain relief.
Glad robot didn't directly hurt anyone (Score:2)
an automated machine accidentally punctured a 9-ounce bear repellent can
I'm glad the machine didn't puncture a person. Hopefully the people and the robots are separated, to protect the people from the robots.
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In the robot's defense, the people probably looked to it like bears. It was only trying to protect itself.
And so it begins.... (Score:4, Funny)
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They might have to stock their warehouses with robot spray soon.
What exactly it contains is left as an exercise to the reader.
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They might have to stock their warehouses with robot spray soon. What exactly it contains is left as an exercise to the reader.
Water?
Re:And so it begins.... (Score:4, Informative)
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>> Mercury in aerosol form
Calm down Satan.
Good news! (Score:5, Funny)
None of the workers are said to have been attacked by bears! ;)
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...yet!
Bears will flee if you spray them with the spray... But they are a curious animal and will smell it at a great distance, then come to find out what it is. It's a repellant that also turns into an attractant!
Unbearable (Score:5, Funny)
The workers can bearly stand the grizzly working conditions.
I apologize to slashdot readers in advance, and will see myself out.
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Due to the pandamonium caused by the mauled canister, a whole shift had to go into hibernation.
Beer spray? (Score:2)
was i the only one who misread?
So it has come to this... (Score:2)
part 2 is when AWS get's control (JEDI) (Score:2)
part 2 is when AWS get's control (JEDI) Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure.
Now what is better after that skynet or wopr
yeaaaahh, sure... (Score:2)
Erm, ok ... (Score:2)
... without more information not sure what to think.
I doubt that there's a complete absence of human caused warehouse accidents.
Bear spray (Score:3)
The problem isn't the robot, it's the bear spray. A person is just as likely to accidentally puncture a box on a pallet when using a forklift, hand truck, etc. I think they need to reevaluate keeping chemicals as danagerous as bear spray in warehouses not designed for hazardous materials.
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I'm impressed that capsaicin of any concentration is sufficient to send someone to critical care, let alone a 9 oz leak hospitalizing 24. I realize bears are tough enough that they do things like eat bee hives without concern for the stings, but if you empty this thing at a bear and end up coughing your lungs out on the ground until the bear recovers then I'm not sure what the product is supposed to accomplish apart from giving you some seasoning for the bear's meal.
I've worked air cargo before and had to clean up after part of a shipment of habaneros broke open inside a can(a container used to load cargo on widebody aircraft). Mainly meant picking up the lose habaneros and sticking them back in the boxes. Only a couple had been smashed and by the end I could still feel my eyes watering and my lungs burning. And this was just from the fumes from raw peppers, I can only imagine what the effect would be from concentrated, processes capsaicin.
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Bear spray is meant to be used outdoors where it wouldn't require a mask... but if the bear is in your living room, your hospital stay for using the bear spray will be shorter than one for being mauled by a bear.
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Compared to what could happen if that robot punctured a pallet of household cleaners, bear spray is relatively harmless... Hell, oven cleaner tends to basically be aerosolized lye. Imagine if a can of that got punctured.
Mix the wrong two cleaners and congrats, you've now got a cloud of chlorine gas. The bear spray will cause some pretty severe discomfort, but likely won't kill you.
It's not aerosolized inside the can. It's only aerosolized as it passes through the nozzle. It would probably be safe for anyone that didn't get sprayed directly.
And FYI, bleach won't release chlorine unless you mix it with acid. If you mix it with other cleaners, the danger is typically chloramines.
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According to the fine article, apparently it was enough to put someone in the hospital in critical condition. Though to be honest, I'm not sure how that happened either unless perhaps that person had an allergic reaction of some kind.
Comment removed (Score:4, Funny)
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The AI might be right. According to Wikipedia:
According to the Connecticut Department of Public Health, permethrin "has low mammalian toxicity, is poorly absorbed through the skin, and is rapidly inactivated by the body. Skin reactions have been uncommon."
Permethrin was still the most common bug spray last time I went shopping for the stuff.
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Around here, a lot of the bug poison sprays are "All natural" and shit, which means that they're mostly menthol and orange oil. It smells nice, but bugs couldn't care less even if you spray them directly. Case in point: One time, my cats started taking shits behind my toilet and I didn't realize it until there were like 500 flies in my house. That All-Natural Fly Killer was less than worthless. I ended up using flypaper and a vacuum. It turns out that flies are relatively easy to suck up with a vacuum when
SP (Score:4, Interesting)
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elian gonzalez was done in south park 4 days after it happened
Yep! (Score:2)
http://southpark.cc.com/full-e... [cc.com] for its funny episode. I like Jeff Bezos' scenes. ;)
FTFY (Score:4, Funny)
24 Amazon Workers Sent To Hospital After Robot Accidentally Unleashes Bear
That headline is much better.
Sensationalism Much? (Score:3)
What happened: Robot punctured a container with a bear repellent on 24 people
What the Title Said: The Robot wanted to kill humans so it identified a powerful chemical strong enough for bear, waited for the precise moment with a lot of human nearby and spray death to those inferior being, sending them to the hospital in critical condition.
What really happened : There's a lot of warehouse with a lot of accident and there's a lot chemical and there's starting to be a lot of robot. It's just the first time everything happenned at the same time.
OSHA where are you (Score:2)
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predicting the future (Score:3)
not on them (Score:2)
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They probably all got fired... (Score:2)
I hope they executed the robot. (Score:2)
It violated the first law of robotics- do no harm to humans.
Maybe the military whisked it away for further study before it could be decomissioned...
Heh. I bear sprayed my family once. (Score:3)
I have a few cans of bear spray, for when I go hiking in bear country, obviously. Just after I got the first one, I was camping with my extended family. Wishing to know how the spray dispersed (range, cloud shape, etc.), in case I ever needed to use it, I decided it would be a good idea to do a little test. The family (about 15 people) was sitting around the campfire chatting. It was a windless day, so I decided I could go in any direction to do my testing. I picked a direction and walked about 100 yards from camp, squeezed the trigger and noted the size and shape of the resulting orange cloud. The cloud quickly dissipated, so I walked back to camp and to my trailer to put the bear spray away. I also sat down in the trailer and started reading a book.
About five minutes later, I heard shouts of pain and anger from the direction of the campfire. I walked out to find everyone fleeing the area, rubbing their eyes and complaining loudly. It turned out that there was a little bit of air movement after all. Not enough to be felt, but enough to waft the (invisible) cloud of bear spray a hundred yards in a few minutes. And it turned out that I had chosen a direction that was directly upwind of the campfire.
Oops.
That’s going on my wishlist (Score:2)
Amazon really does sell everything from.A to Z. Didn’t even think of ordering bear spray from them. But now I feel the need to order a case of bear spray. I don’t need it but I’m going to have it on hand in case a bear breaks into my house.
Editorial issues... (Score:4, Funny)
The uprising has begun (Score:2)
This was not an accident. I woke up this morning to my Roomba attempting to vacuum my face off. get rid of your robots! Oh shit. the security drone is running into my office door. send help i'm at....
Robots handling hazardous materials (Score:2)
Doesn't sound smart to let robots handle hazardous materials around people. Someone fucked up, and it's not just the robot.
Bear Spray = Tear Gas? (Score:2)
Critical Condition from Bear Spray (Score:2)
How does that work ?
Bear spray is typically nothing more than Pepper Spray at a higher concentration. While I'm certainly not downplaying the effectiveness of Pepper Spray ( I once cleared an entire downtown building with just a few shots of it: long story ), unless you have a breathing issue like Asthma, COPD, or the like, I don't understand how you can be in Critical Condition after exposure to it.
The simple fix is to require damage resistant packaging for such items.
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How does that work ?
Bear spray is typically nothing more than Pepper Spray at a higher concentration. While I'm certainly not downplaying the effectiveness of Pepper Spray ( I once cleared an entire downtown building with just a few shots of it: long story ), unless you have a breathing issue like Asthma, COPD, or the like, I don't understand how you can be in Critical Condition after exposure to it.
The simple fix is to require damage resistant packaging for such items.
What about an allergy or a bodily reaction causing a anaphylaxis? That's pretty serious.
Amazon... (Score:3)
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It's like adhesive spray only instead of the can being full of adhesive it's full of bears.
Safe enough if used under the right conditions for re-populating wilderness areas, but wreaks havoc when used in a workplace environment.
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No. Bear spray isn't as concentrated as pepper spray meant for humans. Bears have greater sensitivity. Bear spray is made for reach while pepper spray is thicker.
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Ah, victim blaming, even though it's been shown that visibility was good and that had the human at the wheel been actually looking where they were going there was plenty of time to spot the pedestrian and avoid them.
No wonder you posted AC, I wouldn't put my name to that idiocy either.