Mercury Training

about 3 weeks ago, a long lost friend, a director/producer whom i used to work with, probably about 5 years ago contacted me after so long. told me that he wasn't sure if i was still using the same number. the reason he called was because he had a job for me. not the normal tv program but a coporate safety video. i've done corporate videos before, it normally takes about 3 days to shoot. memorizing scripts is a MUST! simply because we need to educate and inform people about the company we are doing the video for.

of course i said yes to the job. but the process took forever. this video is a lil different because we are going to be doing it for an oil and gas company. we are required to go for training in certain fields. after the long wait, harry (director/producer) called me yesterday to say that the MERCURY TRAINING is on, but not in KL, instead Cherating! say whaaaaat???!!

fine, not a problem, Cherating is not that far, with the Lebuhraya Pantai Timur you can get there in 3 hours. so harry decided that we should just leave very early in the morning and come back the same day. fine with me because i wasn't the one to drive. hahahhhahahah....

the training was to start at 9.30am, so just to be sure we had called to reconfirm, but gues what! the venue was changed to KEMAMAN! say whaaaaat??? hahahaha but despite the change, we managed to get there before 10am. i was the only one to attend the training for today because harry and adam had gone for it last week in KLCC. so the trip today was a joyride for them.

mercury training is a must for each person who needs to be at the oil rig. can you imagine, im gonna be on a helicopter for 2 hours to get to the rig which is 240km off shore! woohooooo!!! i cant wait. that too, we need to go for training..all for safety purposes. best thing about doing the "boset training", it gives me like a "license" that's valid for 4 years! meaning, an advantage for me as a tv host (should there be a need for me to do something similar like this video).

in school we did learn about mercury but only maybe 5 percent of it. so today, its all about ones' safety when we are on the rig and how to deal when we come in contact with mercury.

let me share with you a little bit about the chemical chareacteristic of mercury:-


1) chemical symbol : Hg
2) in elemental form, mercury is silver/white metal
3) emit mercury vapor
4) vaporization increases with temperature and surface area
5) metallic form is insoluble
6) liquid at room temperature (melting point - 38 degrees celcius)
7) weight is 13.5 times denser than waste (1 liter weight = 13.5kg)

there are 3 forms of mercury, elemental, inorganic and organic. when you are on an oil rig, it is very hazardous. the people who work on an oil rig gets paid a helluvalot of money because it is a high risk job. so safety comes first. how can you get mercury into your system? well there are 3 routes of entry:-

1) inhalation - from occupational hazards or pollutions
2) ingestion - consumption of contaminated food
3) exposure - direct contact (cosmetics, creams, dental filling)

they actually showed a video of Minatama Disease which happened in 1908 in Japan where people were exposed to a huge amount of mercury. they kinda go through a slow yet messed up death. they get major alzheimers where they would shake uncontrolably (imagine shaking a bottle hard) and they lose balance. they also did a test on some cats where it had the same effects, the poor cats!

so in order to avoid/minimize the content of mercury in a body we were taught on how to wear a safety suit (tychem) and our safety gears which looks like this...

yea, laugh now why dont you! hahhaaa this took about 15 minutes to wear!

and in the end this is how we're suppose to look like. imagine me in it???!!! i almost disappeared in all that!

and can you believe this dude was actually asleep during the training! caught in the act dude!

hahahahahahahahahahah ahahahahaha hahahahahah!!!

so after learning that, we had to do a practical at a mock-up rig. the guys who attended the training were nice. they helped me in getting dressed and explained a lot to me too! they recognized me from Xplorasi and Langit dan Bumi :p. the guys are working for maintenance where they have to do mercury clean-ups. before and after their job, they need to take a urine and blood sample to indentify the level of mercury in their body. some of the side effects are irritate lungs, cough, kidney, nausea/vomiting, just to name a few. 


so this was what i learnt today...very interesting indeed. u cant take the tv presenter out of me...

i know this is quite a long post, but i just thought it would be interesting for me to share with you. you can never have enough of KNOWLEDGE!

hope you've gained something from this just like i did!

love, me.