No. I don't leave the room. I stuff the two holes with wet rags.
The holes go straight through, It doesn't take much to figure out which end has all of the electric, look for the holes where the fan is and unplug it before you cut into it. I used a hole saw on the end of my drill.
If you are afraid to use it, google micro wave and make a tin foil hat. Do you think the rags do anything different then the thin plastic you have your face pressed to watching your pizza slice heat up?
Hey, Steve, it looked old with all of the meat splatter inside.;-)