Safety@TTU: Lessons Learned

Incidents at TTU	Incidents at Other Institutions
Not Wearing Safety Glass Could Have Cost Student Her/His Sight – June 2012	Oxygen Bomb Calorimeter Failure in Teaching Laboratory – January 2012 – likely due to lack of maintenance
Failure to label a waste stream mixes sulfur and an oxidizer, sets fire to waste bucket; fire threatens other chemicals during cleanup – March 2012	Glass Reactor Over-pressurization Causes Serious Injury to Grad Student Researcher – October 2011
Improper handling of nitric acid waste damages a cabinet and scatters glass shards throughout laboratory – October 2011	Ethanol Fire Burns Researcher – July 2011 – likely because ethanol was used too close to a Bunsen burner
Skin contacts with spilled chemicals lead to wide changes in teaching laboratories – November 2010

January 2010 TTU Chemistry Lab Explosion – US Chemical Safety Board Investigation

Related Links for Lessons Learned at Other Institutions

The Lab Safety Memorial Wall, The Laboratory Safety Institute: http://www.resources.labsafetyinstitute.org/MemorialWall.html
Events at broad range of institutions in which unforeseen outcomes have occurred – hosted at UC Davis: http://ucih.ucdavis.edu/pages/lessons.cfm
Lab safety incidents and “lessons learned” identified by the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA): http://www.aiha.org/insideaiha/volunteergroups/labHandScommittee/Pages/LaboratorySafetyIncidents.aspx
UC Berkeley: http://ehs.berkeley.edu/hs/129-lessons-learned-at-uc-berkeley.html and http://ehs.berkeley.edu/hs/327-lessons-learned.html
UC Irvine: http://www.ehs.uci.edu/salerts/index.html
Prudent Practices in the Laboratory: Handling and Management of Chemical Hazards, 2011, The National Academies Press: http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=12654
Chemical Laboratory Safety and Security: A Guide to Prudent Chemical Management, 2010, The National Academies Press: http://dels.nas.edu/global/bcst/Chemical-Management
People of the State of California v. The Regents of the University of California, and Patrick Harran – July 27, 2012
University of California Reaches Agreement In Connection With Charges In Lab Researcher’s Death – C&EN, July 27, 2012

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