now *that's* interesting
Dec. 27th, 2011 11:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
twoelevenUC system, UCLA professor charged in lab fire that killed staffer
gosh, academic lab safety standards suck mossy rocks... who'da thunk it? but i've never heard of any agency of any government chasing down universities for it, much less pursuing criminal charges. the only times in academia i've seen even the slightest efforts made about safety involved labs that handled lots of 32P, 35S, and/or 125I. (they're exciting radio-isotopes: the first builds up in bone, the second in muscle, and the third in the thyroid.)
but, man, handling t-butyl lithium outside of a glove box/bag containing inert gas, that's a new low in safety... even i got better training than that as an undergrad. (one upper-level i-chem lab had us make an air-sensitive compound.)
Felony charges have been filed against the University of California and a UCLA chemistry professor in connection with a laboratory fire that killed a staff research assistant three years ago.from the LA times.
On Dec. 29, 2008, Sheharbano “Sheri” Sangji, 23, was severely burned over nearly half her body when air-sensitive chemicals burst into flames during an experiment and ignited her clothing. Sangji, who was not wearing a protective lab coat, died 18 days later.
Her death raised questions about UCLA lab-safety practices, as well as her training and supervision by professor Patrick Harran, a prominent researcher who joined the faculty in July 2008.
On Tuesday, the L.A. County district attorney’s office charged Harran and the regents of the University of California with three counts each of willfully violating occupational health and safety standards, resulting in Sangji’s death.
...
Sangji was transferring up to 2 ounces of t-butyl lithium from one sealed container to another when a plastic syringe came apart in her hands, spewing a chemical compound that ignites when exposed to air. The synthetic sweater she wore caught fire and melted onto her skin, causing second- and third-degree burns.
In May 2009, the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health fined UCLA a total of $31,875 after finding that Sangji had not been trained properly and was not wearing protective clothing.
...
gosh, academic lab safety standards suck mossy rocks... who'da thunk it? but i've never heard of any agency of any government chasing down universities for it, much less pursuing criminal charges. the only times in academia i've seen even the slightest efforts made about safety involved labs that handled lots of 32P, 35S, and/or 125I. (they're exciting radio-isotopes: the first builds up in bone, the second in muscle, and the third in the thyroid.)
but, man, handling t-butyl lithium outside of a glove box/bag containing inert gas, that's a new low in safety... even i got better training than that as an undergrad. (one upper-level i-chem lab had us make an air-sensitive compound.)