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There are several interesting sources of information on this question below. Thanks for all for their responses. - Ralph From: mellison**At_Symbol_Here**sachsco.com Subject: RE: [DCHAS-L] Safety value of housekeeping Date: February 23, 2009 3:52:01 PM EST (CA) Ralph, =46rom a construction standpoint, I can say with a high confidence interval that on 99.9% of our projects where there is good to great housekeeping, we have measurably lower incident rates. As far as empirical data go, however, I can't help you. But nonetheless, I preach and practice housekeeping religiously. Mark Ellison "Plan Safety - Work Safely" P Please consider the environment before printing this email === From: info**At_Symbol_Here**ilpi.com Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Safety value of housekeeping Date: February 23, 2009 4:00:37 PM EST (CA) No numbers, but the pictures speak for themselves about keeping hoods uncluttered: http://www.ilpi.com/safety/explosion.html Rob === From: KLOTZ**At_Symbol_Here**siena.edu Subject: RE: [DCHAS-L] Safety value of housekeeping Date: February 23, 2009 4:21:46 PM EST (CA) Anecdotal approach: Several year back there was a fire in one of our research lab. What seems to have happened is that a researcher was working until late into the night inadvertently left a hot plate on all night. In the morning, routine maintenance was to be done on the building filters. The building air was turned off. The change in pressure caused a squeeze type bottle of a flammable solvent in the same hood as the hotplate to drip. The vapors ignited. A lab coat was hung on the hood gas valve handle caught fire. Now the fire was outside the hood. The fire suppression system went off and put out the fire quickly. Not one of the 20 or so four liter glass bottles of flammable solvents cracked. The bottles were safely put away in the two flammables cabinets in the lab (one under the hood that contained the fire.) No one was hurt. Research was put on hold for clean-up and hood repair for several weeks. There was a lot of water damage on the entire wing of the building. Poor housekeeping resulted in the hotplate left on, the squeeze bottle left in the hood rather than put in the flammables cabinet and the lab coat hanging from a hood gas valve rather than on a coat hook. Good housekeeping, putting away the 80 or so liters of flammables, save the building. Ann Ann Klotz School of Science Siena College 515 Loudon Road Loudonville, NY 12211-1462 === From: dfinster**At_Symbol_Here**wittenberg.edu Subject: RE: [DCHAS-L] Safety value of housekeeping Date: February 23, 2009 4:45:47 PM EST (CA) Ralph, The following JCHS article states that "...chemical accidents stemming from improper storage make up almost 25% of all chemical accidents." Simmons F, Quigley D, Whyte H, Robertson J, Freshwater D, Boada-Clista L, Laul JC. Chemical Storage: Myths vs. reality. J Chem Health Safety, 15 (#2), 23-30 (2008). The JCHS article presents two citations for this figure: 1. U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board. Hazard Investigation: Improving Reactive Hazard Management. Report No. 2001-01-H, NTIS No. PB2002-108795, 2002. 2. Department of Energy Chemical Safety Topical Committee. Recommendations for Addressing Recurring Chemical Incidents at the U.S. Department of Energy, 2005. Dave David C. Finster Professor, Department of Chemistry University Chemical Hygiene Officer Wittenberg University 937-327-6441 http://userpages.wittenberg.edu/dfinster/index.html === From: gnpnotti**At_Symbol_Here**COX.NET Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Safety value of housekeeping Date: February 23, 2009 5:01:09 PM EST (CA) You probably already know it but I doubt that you would get any real data so I think that the motherhood, etc applies in this case. I would just say that you are adults, use your commonsense, and Mom is not around to pick up after you. Tell them that they don't want you or the other safety guys to get involved, they'll be sorry! Sincerely, Greg === From: dgamble1**At_Symbol_Here**cnm.edu Subject: RE: [DCHAS-L] Safety value of housekeeping Date: February 23, 2009 5:36:05 PM EST (CA) I do have one contact for information like this and I know that he often responds to the list serv, but the laboratory Safety Institute ran by James Kaufman would be an excellent place to start. Their website is www.labsafety.org. When I saw one of their presentations it had a great chart packed full of numbers which is what your looking for. Thanks, Danyelle Danyelle Gamble-Noland Chemistry Physics and Astronomy Laboratory Manager Central New Mexico Community College 525 Buena Vista Dr. SE Albuquerque, NM 87106 dgamble1**At_Symbol_Here**cnm.edu 505-224-3526 === From: sstepenuck**At_Symbol_Here**ne.rr.com Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Safety value of housekeeping Date: February 24, 2009 12:47:57 AM EST (CA) I'm sure you're right, though I don't have "numbers" either. I do seem to recall that one of OSHA's more frequent citations is for just that--"housekeeping," so they must have some stats to support those regs. I'd call the local OSHA office, and if they don't/can't help, try OSHA Boston and USDOL/BLS [Bureau of Labor Statistics]. They have been very helpful to me in situations like this. Good luck, Steve P.S. Maybe somebody in the UVM Psychology department could help with some supporting knowledge, that is if a place is messy, people tend to be less careful, but if it is obviously well and carefully kept, they tend more to act in that mode... Another thought: Somewhere [try Accident Facts, from National Safety Council] I read that slips, trips and falls are a major cause of lab accidents, and certainly those interface with housekeeping. And yet another--a case history: We had a lab renovation, and a worker left a piece of cove molding not properly attached to the base of a lab bench. A day or so later, an experienced lab tech tripped on that, and hit her head on the lab bench across the aisle, sustaining a treatable injury. [I can't remember now how serious, but it was bad, possibly a concussion.] -- Stephen J. Stepenuck, Ph.D. Professor of chemistry emeritus Keene State College Keene NH 03435-2001 sstepenuck**At_Symbol_Here**ne.rr.com 603.352.7540 === From: tsiakals**At_Symbol_Here**ILLINOIS.EDU Subject: Re: [SAFETY] Safety value of housekeeping Date: February 23, 2009 4:05:15 PM EST (CA) Interesting question, Ralph! I don't know of any study on this, but I suppose it would involve measuring housekeeping and measuring safety - the two variables whose relationship you want to describe. Perhaps such studies are reported out there for industry? Instead of going the anecdotal route, I usually go the "fuzzy statistics" route - meaning that I say there is a rough correlation (not a necessary correlation) between housekeeping and safety. "In general terms, the better kept lab is the safer lab, though you will certainly find labs with seemingly good safety records despite their messiness, and you will find well-kept labs with poor safety records. How can that be? Housekeeping is merely one - not the only - contributing factor to safety performance." Usually this is in a discussion about "controls sufficient for the hazards present." Housekeeping is one of those things that indicates degree of control. So if I observe poor housekeeping, I am observing an indicator of poor control - and I wonder what other controls are missing. I've also gotten traction with the logical route: - Which is easier to deal with, the spill on the messy counter or the spill on a clean counter? - Which is more likely to cause trouble, the well-stowed boxes or the boxes piled haphazardly? - Which is more controlled, the containers left at the point of use or the containers stored after use? Hope that helps, -Nick === From: chipdawson**At_Symbol_Here**AOL.COM Subject: Re: [SAFETY] Safety value of housekeeping Date: February 23, 2009 4:20:37 PM EST (CA) =09 Glad you asked, Ralph. I wrote an article last year for ISHN titled Six Reason to Clean Out the Clutter that was published in the magazine on April 1, 2008 (no fooling). You'll find it, with lots of statistics, at http://www.ishn.com/Articles/Feature_Article/BNP_GUID_9-5-2006_A_100000000 00000300104 . Chip Lawrence H. "ChiP" Dawson Dawson Associates Rochester Business Alliance Coordinating Consultant for Health and Safety 6 Saddle Ridge Trail Fairport, NY 14450 (585) 425-1639 === From: regina.j.cody**At_Symbol_Here**nasa.gov Subject: Lab Housekeeping Date: February 23, 2009 7:02:38 PM EST (CA) =09 Dear Ralph, I have been reading many postings from you on DCHAS for several years, so feel I owe you a little something in return. I do not have statistics on housekeeping, but I have been a lab scientist for many years. While I am not the best housekeeper, I do agree that a reasonably orderly lab helps not only to prevent accidents but also helps get research done. But there are other equally important things that can help prevent accidents both from my experience and from reviewing accident reports, and they need to be stressed to new researchers. Far too many accidents / incidents are caused either by being in a hurry and maybe taking short cuts or by lapses of concentration on the work at hand. Being hurried can also mean not taking the time to get enough information about the chemical or process ahead of time. A few seconds or minute of a lapse of concentration can result in an =93oops=94; a valve being opened or not opened, a chemical spilled, a wrong switch being thrown. Good luck. Regina Cody === From: iht63**At_Symbol_Here**VALLEY.NET Subject: Safety value of housekeeping Date: February 23, 2009 5:30:01 PM EST (CA) Hello Ralph: I am not sure what type of numbers/statistics you are looking for. Nor do I have any numbers. Maybe I can offer some thoughts as to how one might approach developing relevant information. 1. Accident statistics: There maybe some comparative studies around. The answer to look for might be the average number of lab accidents experienced over a course of ten years. To be derived thereof: what is an acceptable number of accidents in a given time? 2. Accidents avoided: This may be the better way to bring home the benefit of good house keeping. Develop costs for typical lab accidents, including spillage, fire, explosion, personal injury (through exposure, cutting on glass, getting stuck with injection needles, burns, chemical burns. 3. Not everything can be measured in remedial $ spent. Students might be more impressed with anecdotal reports or hypothetic scenarios describing types of injuries, personal suffering to be expected, and giving estimates of productive hours lost for hospital stays or home recovery. I hope this helps conceptually - I'm sure you have thought of similar approaches. Sincerely, Heinz Heinz H. Trebitz, Ph.D. GBK/TRE SERVICE 480 Colby Road N Thetford Center, VT 05075 ===
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