This project addresses the risk faced by workers who must physically interact with dangerous environments using their hands and limbs. It aims to design, plan, build, and test a portable mechanical hand extension that protects the user from direct exposure to hazards, without relying on electricity  this is important because many high-risk environments (e.g. wet, flammable, or electrically unsafe sites) make powered devices impractical or unsafe.The device must be affordable and easily replaceable, since the intended context of use includes under-resourced settings such as schools, small research teams, and individual explorers who cannot access expensive commercial alternatives. This context directly shapes two key constraints: a total build budget of $10–20, and individual replaceable components costing under $5 each together, these allow damaged parts to be swapped cheaply rather than requiring the whole device to be replaced, extending its usable life and reducing cost barriers to entry.The design emphasises moderate precision and power, aiming to mimic the function of a human hand closely enough to complete simple manipulation tasks such as gripping or holding objects, without attempting the full dexterity of a human hand  this scope is deliberately limited, because achieving full dexterity would require significantly more components, cost, and complexity than the budget and non-electric constraint allow.Weight is constrained to under 1 kg, because a heavier device would be harder for a single user to operate one-handed over an extended period, reducing accessibility for the intended non-specialist user group (students, small research teams). Similarly, the device must require no more than 10 minutes to assemble by a typical high-school-aged user, since ease of use is central to the project’s accessibility & inclusivity focus  a device that requires specialist training would defeat the purpose of the project.The device must operate in hazardous conditions relevant to its context of use, including toxic gases and submersion in liquids, since these represent the realistic environments the device is intended to protect users from. It must include a minimum of three axes of mobility, providing enough range of motion to complete basic reach-and-grip tasks without the added cost and complexity of full multi-axis dexterity.Finally, materials should be reusable or low-waste where possible, and the device should be able to be fully disassembled by hand for part replacement. This reflects the project’s secondary ethical consideration of environmental sustainability by minimising material waste across the device’s working life and supporting easy remanufacture rather than full disposal when parts wear out. The project is expected to be completed within the first semester, allowing sufficient time for iterative prototyping and testing within the constraints of a school-based build