From: "Alnajjar, Mikhail S" <ms.alnajjar**At_Symbol_Here**PNNL.GOV>
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] DCHAS-L Digest - 29 Mar 2012 to 30 Mar 2012 (#2012-68)
Date: April 3, 2012 12:43:38 PM EDT
Reply-To: DCHAS-L <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU>
Message-ID: <00c901cd11b6$6094b190$21be14b0$**At_Symbol_Here**com>

Although it may not be the answer to everything, I really like the idea of color coded frames to respond to human factors. And behold we have many people who really care about such things.

__________________________________________________
Mikhail

-----Original Message-----
From: DCHAS-L Discussion List [mailto:dchas-l**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU] On Behalf Of NEAL LANGERMAN
Sent: Tuesday, April 03, 2012 9:25 AM
To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] DCHAS-L Digest - 29 Mar 2012 to 30 Mar 2012 (#2012-68)

Mary Beth's comments bring up two items:

1. The manager of an industrial research lab motivated a technician to
wear safety glasses by allowing her to purchase whatever color frames she wanted to match her clothing. In the 70's this was interpreted as a positive step. The technician once showed me a desk drawer with at least 50 pairs of safety glasses, from which she would color coordinate her PPE! I still think this is a cool response to the human factors problem.

2. Way back when, the JT Baker Safety seminar series included the
egg/corrosive demo. We would set up a series of "Tupperware" trays with a out of the shell egg in each. We would then add about 10 mL of HCl, HNO3, H2SO4, 50% NaOH and 25% NH4OH to separate trays. During the demo, we would use appropriate PPE, protect the participants, and discuss the immediate damage. We would then demo the JTB spill products on the results. I still use images of these demos on those rare occasions that I do a lab safety demo. Sad to say that RCRA and liability concerns relegated this live demo to video.

And, finally, I have started using "Unigoggles" to solve the extreme discomfort of splash goggles.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------
The information contained in this message is privileged and confidential and protected from disclosure. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, or an employee or agent responsible for delivering this message to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately by replying to the message and deleting it from your computer.

ACSafety has a new address:
NEAL LANGERMAN, Ph.D.
ADVANCED CHEMICAL SAFETY, Inc.
PO Box 152329
SAN DIEGO CA 92195
011(619) 990-4908 (phone, 24/7)
www.chemical-safety.com

We no longer support FAX.

Please contact me before sending any packages or courier delivery. The address for those items is:
5340 Caminito Cachorro
San Diego CA 92105

-----Original Message-----
From: DCHAS-L Discussion List [mailto:dchas-l**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU] On Behalf Of Mary Beth Mulcahy
Sent: Tuesday, April 03, 2012 5:22 AM
To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] DCHAS-L Digest - 29 Mar 2012 to 30 Mar 2012
(#2012-68)

The conversation on eye protection and standards makes me think about a topic dealt with often in CSB investigations, that is "human factors" or "human errors." I have seen human errors boiled down to two types, intentional (I choose not to wear safety googles) or unintentional (I do not know about splash protection). Human beings don't usually think about the safety regulations that govern their activities, so it becomes very important that the safety management systems remove what motivates the intentional decisions their employees are making or educate workers to help them understand the unintentional decisions they are making.

What I really mean to do by this post is spark a conversation that addressed the human factor of the problem, so, here are my thoughts on intentional or unintentional decisions to were eye protection:

Intentional: I will say that in grad school the reason I often times
chose not to wear safety googles was because I wear prescription glasses and the awkward, clunky plastic ones in the lab did not fit well over my glasses, constantly fogged up, and cut into my face. If comfortable googles had been available to me I think I would have worn them (at least more often) while I grad school. Have others found that comfortable eye wear has increased its usage?

Unintentional: After grad school I spent a year teaching high school chemistry and I found a safety demonstration for what acid could do to your eye. I don't remember what acid I used, but it was adding acid to egg whites which essentially cooked the egg whites. I showed that to my class and kids continued to reference the demonstration for the rest of the year. It was the best motivator I had ever used to get students to wear googles.

Mary Beth Mulcahy


On Mon, Apr 2, 2012 at 6:32 PM, wrote:
Wayne and I are not really in disagreement. It's the employers
responsibility to decide whether the chemicals being used can harm the
eyes.

If in the circumstances he (representing his employer) believed that
they
is
not a risk of eye injury, then splash goggle are not needed.

In the video, the announcer specifies that the eye injury is present. ...
Jim

James A. Kaufman, Ph.D.
Chair, ICASE Committee on Safety in Science Education International
Council for Associations of Science Education www.icaseonline.net

President/CEO
The Laboratory Safety Institute (LSI)
A Nonprofit International Organization for Safety in Science and
Science Education

192 Worcester Road, Natick, MA 01760-2252
508-647-1900 Fax: 508-647-0062 Skype: labsafe
Cell: 508-574-6264 Res: 781-237-1335
jim**At_Symbol_Here**labsafetyinstitute.org www.labsafetyinstitute.org P We thank you
for printing this e-mail only if it is necessary

In a message dated 3/31/2012 12:00:43 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
LISTSERV**At_Symbol_Here**listserv.med.cornell.edu writes:

Date: Fri, 30 Mar 2012 12:13:15 +0000
From: Wayne Wood
Subject: Re: New Video from UCSD

Please forgive me for disagreeing with the lab safety guru, but in our
neck
of the woods it is hard enough to get lab personnel to wear safety
glasses,
let alone wear goggles. Here we require goggles when there is a
significant
splash hazard but for light-to-moderate work in your typical research
lab
we
require safety glasses with side shields.

Unlike Jim who feels the producers are "totally wrong", IMHO this
video
can
help us increase the use of eye protection. Bravo and thank you UCSD!

W.

Previous post   |  Top of Page   |   Next post



The content of this page reflects the personal opinion(s) of the author(s) only, not the American Chemical Society, ILPI, Safety Emporium, or any other party. Use of any information on this page is at the reader's own risk. Unauthorized reproduction of these materials is prohibited. Send questions/comments about the archive to secretary@dchas.org.
The maintenance and hosting of the DCHAS-L archive is provided through the generous support of Safety Emporium.