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Subject: Re: Yale student killed in chemistry laboratory accident/ A Call
Date: Thu, 14 Apr 2011 10:06:25 -0700
Author: Roger McClellan 		Next by Date:
Subject: Chemical Safety headlines from Google
Date: Fri, 15 Apr 2011 08:22:07 -0400
Author: Ralph Stuart


Date: Thu, 14 Apr 2011 21:08:33 -0400
Reply-To: DCHAS-L Discussion List <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**LIST.UVM.EDU>
Sender: DCHAS-L Discussion List <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**LIST.UVM.EDU>
From: "Secretary, ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety"

Subject: 8 Re: [DCHAS-L] Yale student killed in chemistry laboratory
accident/ A Call for a broad perspective on safety

From: vaiju.bagal**At_Symbol_Here**merckgroup.com< /font>

Date: April 14, 2011 2:00:43 PM EDT
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Yale student killed in chemistry laboratory accident/ A Call for a broad perspective on safety

I agree with Roger on this. I'm sure that, for many if not all of us, this 
tragedy brought to mind the death of the student in UCLA, and what appears 
to be a lack of safety culture in universities. 


Ujjvala (Vaiju) Bagal
Specialist, Methods Development
Chemical Hygiene Officer
Phone: 01-912-964-9050 ext.53236
Fax:     01-912-966-5917
Email:   Vaiju.Bagal**At_Symbol_Here**merckgroup.com< /font>

EMD Chemicals
110 EMD Blvd
Savannah, GA 31407
Home:   www.emdchemicals.com

===
From: "Johnson, Amy Carr" <amy_johnson**At_Symbol_Here**harvard.edu>
Date: April 14, 2011 1:14:03 PM EDT
Subject: RE: [DCHAS-L] Yale student killed in chemistry laboratory accident/ A Call for a broad perspective on safety


I agree wholeheartedly

 

I'm pretty sure it was an innocent and understandable mistake to initially assume that this was a Chemistry lab accident.  It was, after all, a Chemistry experiment in a Chemistry lab building

 

I think there are bigger worries here than offending Chemists or Chemistry Department members.

 

===
From: "Robin M. Izzo" <rmizzo**At_Symbol_Here**Princeton.EDU>
Date: April 14, 2011 1:28:21 PM EDT
Subject: RE: [DCHAS-L] Yale student killed in chemistry laboratory accident/ A Call for a broad perspective on safety


Roger (and all),

 

While I agree that we cannot work in silos and ignore machine shops associated with laboratory work, I believe that we should suspend judgment until we know the facts of the case from an investigator or from Yale.  I can assure you that Yale employs some of the finest EHS professionals I=92ve ever had the pleasure to meet.

 

It=92s a safe bet that my college and university EHS professional colleagues are taking another look at their machine shops - training, access, supervision - and not for the first time.  Most of us have gone well beyond focusing only on =93compliance=94 issues and chemical safety, and look at laboratory safety from a broader perspective.

 

You are right - this incident should not be dismissed as not being a lab accident just because it did not occur in a traditional laboratory.  Safety for lab support activities is just as important as the chemical manipulations in the lab.

 

Thanks,
Robin

 

 

Robin M. Izzo, M.S.
Associate Director, EHS
Princeton University
609-258-6259 (office)

 

How many legs does a dog have if you call the leg a tail?  Four.  Calling it a tail a leg doesn't make it a leg.
~ Abraham Lincoln

===
From: "Alnajjar, Mikhail S" <ms.alnajjar**At_Symbol_Here**pnl.gov>
Date: April 14, 2011 11:42:10 AM EDT
Subject: RE: [DCHAS-L] Yale student killed in chemistry laboratory accident


Avoidable!!! Yes.  What a tragedy.  The video runs in my head going back to UCLA.

 

__________________________________________________
Mikhail

===
Date: April 14, 2011 3:13:24 PM EDT
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Yale student killed in chemistry laboratory accident/ A Call for a broad perspective on safety


I do not appreciate the inherent tone of looking for someone/something to blame for the death of this young woman. I've taken my long hair down in the middle of the night in a lab - it's heavy at the end of a very long day, and can even produce tension headaches from a heavy mass being pinned to the head all day. But, I never took my hair down near moving parts or a heat source. It is, at least, a possibility that the young woman made a costly and tragic mistake, but I don't blame her, those that trained her, OSHA, safety officers, the government, or Yale's President. I once flicked a few drops of flaming ethanol onto my gloved hand. That micro-second of a bad decision produced a very small burn that healed in a few days. I didn't blame anyone else. I knew better. I was tired. And I was just lucky.

-Melinda  


====
From: "Skarda, Jay" <SkardaJ**At_Symbol_Here**NJHealth.org>
Date: April 14, 2011 1:22:56 PM EDT
To: "'DCHAS-L Discussion List'" <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**list.uvm.edu>
Subject: RE: [DCHAS-L] Yale student killed in chemistry laboratory accident/ A Call for a broad perspective on safety


Seems to me that one thing that is being overlooked is the issue of personal responsibility.  It seems to be assumed that Yale did nothing to inform the victim of the hazards of this task and the protective requirements that should have been followed.  (I doubt that by the way).  The victim most likely knew what she was doing, and chose her course of action.   I see "brilliant people" do, or allow others to do, careless things all too frequently. 

 

Jay Skarda
Director of Safety & Security
National Jewish Health

 


===
Date: April 14, 2011 2:48:26 PM EDT
To: "DCHAS-L Discussion List (DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**list.uvm.edu)" <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**list.uvm.edu>
Subject: RE: [DCHAS-L] Yale student killed in chemistry laboratory accident/ A Call for a broad perspective on safety


Roger;

 

I agree with you completely=85.  My office is responsible for Safety, not just chemical safety, but SAFETY.  Now we are a relatively small institution, but we have had incidents and safety issues in engineering, visual arts, and other locations on campus that have power equipment available for staff and students.  We have many university staff that only look at chemical safety issues in their areas, but fail to look at all safety issues.  It=92s an educational issue.

 

I was told once by my former boss, that it was our department to enforce and determine safety policies=85.he never said just chemistry, and he backed this up.  Thus when we do our walk throughs/audits, chemistry is very important, but it is not the only thing that we ask about, look at and inspect.

 

Gary

 

 

Dr. Gary L. Yarrow, Director
Environmental Health & Safety
Avera Sci Center 143, Bldg 2202
South Dakota State University
Brookings, SD  57007-0896
605-688-6332

 

 






Ralph Stuart
Secr etary
Division of Chemical Health and Safety
American Chemical Society




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