They should have had enclosed chambers with gloves in holes to work with the chemical, and the chamber should have been filled with something like pure nitrogen or argon.
So where were the safety PPE requirements for handling highly reactive substances? Hmmm? Lab coat, nitrile gloves and safety glasses isn't going to cut it.
No matter how "careful" scientists are, humans are prone to making mistakes. It's why Chernobyl, the Challenger explosion & Tokaimura happened. You have to accept that if this is your job, there's a risk you'll die a terrible death. The only 100% safe way to handle these substances is NOT to. Hopefully, one day AI robots will be the only ones exposed to these situations.
Many academic labs have poor or no safety training at all. Not merely chemistry, but electronics and mechanical engineering. The safety failures in this report improved the awareness among academic administrators because there were financial consequences to the institutions, not because of humanitarian concerns. The deaths caused by the administrative neglect in these cases have resulted in some improvement.
HUGE Problem – Departments absolutely powerless to enforce policies and puts them in a "Catch 22". It always requires a serious accident before OH&S / EH&S Departments are given the authority they need in order to enforce and oversee what goes on in academic labs and especially medical universities, where doctors and administration often neglects safety and focuses on profits – even at State facilities.
No amount of safety paperwork or training is going to stop people from doing stupid/unsafe things. In fact, increasing these requirements can lead to some people getting more annoyed and less inclined to be safe in the lab. You can't prevent human nature.
Too much concern for corporate profiteering rather than basic physical chemical safety in New Amerika. Safety should never be compromised in the name of stockholders — PERIOD!
Wait, TX does not have its own OSHA-approved state safety program. Then how come this exempts "public schools in TX" from complying with OSHA Laboratory Standard 29 CFR 1910.1450? I'm confused
Oil spill accidents can be easily cleaned with a new nano technology which is totally natural, read and support startup company that is currently on kickstarter 🙂 http://kck.st/19sfeGr
reactive hazards are pretty scary, i think poor sherri sanji had what was called tert butyllithium sprayed on herself. that shit is extremely pyrophoric (MEANING IT IGNITES SPONTANEOUSLY ON CONTACT WITH AIR)
The incident at Dartmouth is very strange. Suppose what few micrograms of the mercury compound that landed on her glove managed to diffuse through the latex, the amount that would have made contact with her skin and then absorbed systemically would have to be in the picograms? There must have been some other mode of entry for her to succumb to poisoning.
A culture of safety is what is needed, and rules, training, and tests on the trivial minutia are unlikely to do much other than make folks feel good and keep lawyers happy. All too often the focus is on the number of cans, buckets, whatever, all the while ignoring the biggest safety hazard in the room as its too complex, too specialized, too spendy etc… The mentality that if the trivial stuff is ok, we don't need to worry about the elephant will eventually come back to bite. I think safety culture does need to start young, but it needs to be science thinking based, not just a rubric of rules. I've dealt with safety maniacs who are accidents waiting to happen, it almost appears they think their rules make them immune to danger.
El video es muy interesante, principalmente para hacer conciencia de la importancia que tiene el buen manejo de los materiales dentro de un laboratorio de química, así como el implemento de las medidas de seguridad sugeridas por investigadores. Conocer el material con que se trabaja (químicos corrosivos e inflamables) para prevenir accidentes o en caso contrario contrarrestar daños. Usar el equipo y ropa adecuados, así como acatar con sumo cuidado cada instrucción y evitar cualquier desastre.
"[UCLA] Prof. Patrick Harran is ordered to stand trial on felony charges stemming from a fire that killed staff research assistant Sheharbano Sangji." [LA Times, 4/26/2013
The Los Angeles Times article has a 95-page document from the investigation outlining serious lapses in laboratory safety. Its extremely detailed account makes illuminating reading both of the tragic incident and the importance of respecting lab safety.
articles.latimes.com/2013/apr/26/local/la-me-ucla-prof-20130427
Well too freakin bad. The rest of the world doesn't care in that regard.
More often than not, people will despise the safety maniac. I don't know about you, but I would think this would encourage even more dangerous behavior.
Safety education needs to start in earnest at the middle school level. Students should not be ALLOWED to use laboratory equipment without passing safety tests. We most assuredly do NOT have a safety conscious culture or educational system. Safety is a habit that should be learned young. Students need to learn about preventable tragedies such as these (as part of curriculum) early on in science. What I see going from school to school is too frequently negligence in this regard.
37 Comments
Youd think a PhD would know that an organic mercury compound would ignore laxtex, even nitriles wouldn't have been much better.
Let's crush some explosives yey
I can understand not bothering to wear a lab coat when doing basic safe stuff, but Jesus Christ pipetting PYROPHORIC chemicals, wtf.
Shes kinda cute. Idgaf about her dead ugly ass burn bitch asssssss friend or sister
They should have had enclosed chambers with gloves in holes to work with the chemical, and the chamber should have been filled with something like pure nitrogen or argon.
So where were the safety PPE requirements for handling highly reactive substances? Hmmm? Lab coat, nitrile gloves and safety glasses isn't going to cut it.
No matter how "careful" scientists are, humans are prone to making mistakes. It's why Chernobyl, the Challenger explosion & Tokaimura happened. You have to accept that if this is your job, there's a risk you'll die a terrible death. The only 100% safe way to handle these substances is NOT to. Hopefully, one day AI robots will be the only ones exposed to these situations.
I would have thought you would keep something like tert-Butyllithium, under nitrogen…
has Trump defunded THE USCSB yet !!!
Many academic labs have poor or no safety training at all. Not merely chemistry, but electronics and mechanical engineering. The safety failures in this report improved the awareness among academic administrators because there were financial consequences to the institutions, not because of humanitarian concerns. The deaths caused by the administrative neglect in these cases have resulted in some improvement.
being a tiger handler will always be more hazardous then being a wristwatch repairman-no amount of "safety" films will change that.
Let's have a shower with tert-Butyllithium because why not
HUGE Problem – Departments absolutely powerless to enforce policies and puts them in a "Catch 22". It always requires a serious accident before OH&S / EH&S Departments are given the authority they need in order to enforce and oversee what goes on in academic labs and especially medical universities, where doctors and administration often neglects safety and focuses on profits – even at State facilities.
Heil Manziel
No amount of safety paperwork or training is going to stop people from doing stupid/unsafe things. In fact, increasing these requirements can lead to some people getting more annoyed and less inclined to be safe in the lab. You can't prevent human nature.
Too much concern for corporate profiteering rather than basic physical chemical safety in New Amerika. Safety should never be compromised in the name of stockholders — PERIOD!
"hydrazine" and "perchlorate" would send me running if I had no PPE.
Professor Keren Wetterhahn sure looks like a clear cut case of murder to me. Had to say that…. Great videos USCSB! Thank you.
"A chemistry student decided to mortar and pestle a primary explosive." Had me laughing. Other than that, very informative video.
Effective research-specific HazCom and training r key factors here. Thanks CSB for sharing.
Wait, TX does not have its own OSHA-approved state safety program. Then how come this exempts "public schools in TX" from complying with OSHA Laboratory Standard 29 CFR 1910.1450? I'm confused
Texass state doesn't abide by federal Oshawa safety rules… Sounds like texass
darwin award inc
Was she Indian?
wow
Oil spill accidents can be easily cleaned with a new nano technology which is totally natural, read and support startup company that is currently on kickstarter 🙂
http://kck.st/19sfeGr
reactive hazards are pretty scary, i think poor sherri sanji had what was called tert butyllithium sprayed on herself. that shit is extremely pyrophoric (MEANING IT IGNITES SPONTANEOUSLY ON CONTACT WITH AIR)
The incident at Dartmouth is very strange. Suppose what few micrograms of the mercury compound that landed on her glove managed to diffuse through the latex, the amount that would have made contact with her skin and then absorbed systemically would have to be in the picograms? There must have been some other mode of entry for her to succumb to poisoning.
Be smart, take every single precaution you can.
A culture of safety is what is needed, and rules, training, and tests on the trivial minutia are unlikely to do much other than make folks feel good and keep lawyers happy. All too often the focus is on the number of cans, buckets, whatever, all the while ignoring the biggest safety hazard in the room as its too complex, too specialized, too spendy etc… The mentality that if the trivial stuff is ok, we don't need to worry about the elephant will eventually come back to bite. I think safety culture does need to start young, but it needs to be science thinking based, not just a rubric of rules. I've dealt with safety maniacs who are accidents waiting to happen, it almost appears they think their rules make them immune to danger.
Great safety video.
El video es muy interesante, principalmente para hacer conciencia de la importancia que tiene el buen manejo de los materiales dentro de un laboratorio de química, así como el implemento de las medidas de seguridad sugeridas por investigadores. Conocer el material con que se trabaja (químicos corrosivos e inflamables) para prevenir accidentes o en caso contrario contrarrestar daños. Usar el equipo y ropa adecuados, así como acatar con sumo cuidado cada instrucción y evitar cualquier desastre.
The really scary thing is that someone else could be tired, irritated or under pressure and screw up with disastrous results to you.
"[UCLA] Prof. Patrick Harran is ordered to stand trial on felony charges stemming from a fire that killed staff research assistant Sheharbano Sangji." [LA Times, 4/26/2013
The Los Angeles Times article has a 95-page document from the investigation outlining serious lapses in laboratory safety. Its extremely detailed account makes illuminating reading both of the tragic incident and the importance of respecting lab safety.
articles.latimes.com/2013/apr/26/local/la-me-ucla-prof-20130427
Grow up.
Well too freakin bad. The rest of the world doesn't care in that regard.
More often than not, people will despise the safety maniac. I don't know about you, but I would think this would encourage even more dangerous behavior.
Safety education needs to start in earnest at the middle school level. Students should not be ALLOWED to use laboratory equipment without passing safety tests. We most assuredly do NOT have a safety conscious culture or educational system. Safety is a habit that should be learned young. Students need to learn about preventable tragedies such as these (as part of curriculum) early on in science. What I see going from school to school is too frequently negligence in this regard.