Experimenting with Danger

CSB video on laboratory safety

[deezimmo]

I worked in a laboratory for decades and was constantly aware of the things that could go wrong. One day, the day I was not in the lab, a container of halogenated waste detonated unexpectedly showering the lab with acid and glass fragments. The force of the explosion broke all the windows within the lab and outside the lab, propelled the top of the container into the next room through a glass wall and turned the glass container into sand. No one was hurt, there was one technician in the room that was showered with glass and acid but made it to an emergency shower before any injuries. After an investigation by OSHA, and others, they still had no idea what caused the container to detonate to begin with.

[noturbinesinhell]

"hydrazine" and "perchlorate" would send me running if I had no PPE.

[gustavderkits]

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.

[SockPoopette]

The really scary thing is that someone else could be tired, irritated or under pressure and screw up with disastrous results to you.

[ComradeMario]

Tertiary butylithium is notoriously famous for its high flammability, heard a lot of accidents handling this chemical. Have learned about a facility deals with this daily, in tons, they are equipped with special liquid nitrogen fire-extinguisher.

[JP-wxuh]

That particular SDS (for the Dimethyl mercury) was a contributing factor IMO.

[lexinaut]

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.

[jermainerace]

Just a note about the mortar and pestle; many people with explosives experience (ex-military especially) are used to working with shock, temperature, and pressure stable explosives. Naturally these kinds of explosives are much preferred for commercial use, almost exclusively so, and many such people are under the impression that the safety protocols they are used to are more or less universal. As this video shows, however, there are many many explosive chemicals which are shock, temperature, and pressure sensitive. Another good example that would surprise most people has to do with black powder fireworks: another video shows how the simple act of rolling a chair across a floor with black powder on it could cause an explosion.

[bruse]

"A chemistry student decided to mortar and pestle a primary explosive." Had me laughing. Other than that, very informative video.

[wirebrushofenlightenment]

A lab in a company I used to work for had an uncontained leak from a cylinder of chlorine gas. Afterwards, the lab looked like it had been underwater for decades. All the metalwork was corroded to hell, and the varnish had all peeled off the wooden benches. Thankfully the staff all promptly evacuated and there were no casualties.

[GLING]

Very sad, such a young girl dying so horribly is a tragedy. Rest in peace, Shari. 😞

[billyponsonby]

17:30 ‘CSB would like to see a tracking system of incidents and accidents.’ It’s astonishing to me that this hasn’t been mandated for decades. It’s obviously fundamental to safety culture and improved processes.

[JP-wxuh]

HUGE Problem - Departments are often absolutely powerless to enforce policies and it 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.

[MazeFrame]

The Field Guide to Understanding 'Human Error' by Sidney Dekker is a must read for everyone.

[SerMattzio]

MeLi, BuLi and similar chemicals can be very dangerous. That unfortunate student absolutely should have been wearing a lab coat, and open solvent should have been nowhere near the whole area. Also it sounds to me like the transfer method was wildly inappropriate (we used to transfer it under inert gas).

As for dimethyl mercury, you wouldn’t catch me touching it with a barge pole. Horrifically poisonous stuff.

[RonAmundson]

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.

[HollywoodRecordingStudio]

In 1984, my high school chemistry teacher was demonstrating white phospher and dropped some. We learned how to operate a fire extinguisher that day.

[thewingedpotato]

"With great power comes great responsibility"

Unless you're in management, apparently...

[totallymassive]

I once was handling a container with base which swished up and hit me right on the safety glasses. I got assistance and was ok. My lab partner had no glasses on and was told to put them on. This was in collage.

I was also sprayed in the safety glasses with acid after a long Pipette broke with 6M HCl. I got a tiny bit in my eye, I carried on and didn't report. I had slight irritation but it didn't hurt and I could see fine. This was in University. More pressure and less help will cause this.

[lewiemcneely]

If we need safety practices in mining, it ought to filter into everything else. Taking care of ourselves is OUR job.
Thanks CSB!