DCHAS-L Discussion List Archive
Date: Mon, 3 Nov 2008 19:42:12 -0500
Reply-To: ILPI <info**At_Symbol_Here**ILPI.COM>
Sender: DCHAS-L Discussion List <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**LIST.UVM.EDU>
From: ILPI <info**At_Symbol_Here**ILPI.COM>
Subject: Re: Shorts and Skirts in Labs
Comments: cc: LDMclouth**At_Symbol_Here**LBL.GOV
In-Reply-To: <490F8C20.2000908**At_Symbol_Here**lbl.gov>
>I'm interested in written policies/procedures on wearing shorts and
>skirts in chemistry labs.
>Thanks
>
>Larry
My personal and professional opinion is that neither should NEVER be
worn in a lab. Here's 3 quick examples that form the basis of that
opinion.
1. A grad student was moving some old vacuum lines down to the
storeroom. These were the old-fashioned kind that were assembled in
place and when they were taken down they had to be cut/broken. The
ends of the manifold were jagged and stuck out from the end of the
cart he was using. He managed to jab himself in the leg pretty good
and required stitches. I suspect if he had been wearing jeans
instead of shorts he would have had only a superficial wound.
2. In the accident I describe at
http://www.ilpi.com/safety/explosion.html jagged pieces of glass
embedded themselves in the ceiling ductwork. Had anyone actually
been hit by those it is easy to imagine the injuries. And the
potential effect on protected skin vs unprotected is obvious.
3. Here's an example where a flask disintegrated into hundreds of
tiny fragments. While the brunt of the impact was on the victim's
arm, it gets across the idea that the more layers of *anything*
between the skin and projectiles, the better. In this archived
UseNet post you will fine my firsthand account at the very bottom:
http://yarchive.net/chem/piranha_solution.html
And don't get me started on the fires I've witnessed....
That all said, you will find *tremendous* resistance trying to ban
shorts/skirts in laboratories. Even from seasoned
faculty/researchers who really should know better. The worst
example I ever saw of that was at an oceanographic institution where
it took unbelievable effort to get them to agree to ban bare feet and
sandals in the lab (and they still didn't ban shorts). If you run
into anyone like that, send them a copy of this message.
Rob Toreki
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