complacency is not your friend
I have had only one of these fairly early on in the wood turning game. It literally exploded and threw wooden shrapnel all over the workshop, totally my own fault, too thin, too fast. Luckily I had just stepped away to get some more sandpaper so I was well out of the line of fire. Since then, I turn much slower on dangerous pieces and have learned to turn and be out of the line of fire. Its not hard, now its second nature for me.
Which is a good thing as I have got a passion for the impossible pieces, or air turning as some folk say. This has all come about with some luck initially and these days a fair amount of experience.