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Previous by Date: Subject: Re: Final thoughts on UCLA fatal accident. Date: Mon, 10 Aug 2009 14:50:07 -0400 Author: "Wawzyniecki Jr, Stefan" |
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From: bridget.fitzpatrick**At_Symbol_Here**gmail.com Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Final thoughts on UCLA fatal accident. Date: August 10, 2009 2:53:12 PM EDT >there should be =91fire drills=92 in which the PI, a post-doc or a senior grad student has each person in the lab respond to various scenarios, I agree completely. I think that one of the best defenses is to ingrain a muscle memory in someone of how to respond. So when the crisis happens, they are 10 steps into responding correctly, before they start to think. === From: info**At_Symbol_Here**ilpi.com Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Final thoughts on UCLA fatal accident. Date: August 10, 2009 3:06:31 PM EDT Yes, those who have run through their minds what to do when faced with an emergency situation do fare better - the prime example being those who survive an airline crash and have figured out beforehand how they would make their escape in the event of catastrophe. Based on personal experiences, I can say that about half the time in a lab incident, half of the population will respond correctly and quickly. And the other half will panic or *freeze*, regardless of how much training they have had or the imprimatur of your company or school's name. Some quick examples of the latter: - My own graduate student who, after setting the sink on fire after igniting a "dead" still pot, stood there dumbfounded, not knowing what to do even though there was a fire extinguisher just 3 feet behind him. I drilled, and I mean DRILLED, every one of my students about safety in the lab and how to respond in an emergency, including all my goriest stories, and ffffft, to no effect. - An MIT grad student who, after catching stuff in his hood on fire, decided to respond by moving the flame-spouting hexane wash bottle to the floor, where it burned itself up (or would have rather harmlessly - big open lab, that one), but then decided to try and extinguish it with his *lab coat*, which caught fire. When I came upon the scene he was watching it all burn (hood was on fire as well). Just standing there. - Another MIT grad student who ran in looking to call 911 because of a 2" high fire on an isolated electrical cord...I went to his lab and extinguished with a 1 second puff of carbon dioxide. - An MIT engineering student who set the sink on fire with Na/K alloy residue. He stood there watching it burn. His lab mate put it out, and when she came to my lab to use the phone to call 911 about the extinguished fire, their waste basket went up because the first guy had thrown his waste paper towels with toluene and Na/K in the trash. To recap, emergency training is great and should be done. But don't bank on the training necessarily doing any good, either. Emergency response is your last line of defense after all the other usual ones (substitution, engineering controls, PPE etc. etc.). Rob Toreki
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