DCHAS-L Archives, Mar 28 2013 - Re: [DCHAS-L] Training program feedback survey?

From: Ed Austin <Ed.Austin**At_Symbol_Here**SIAL.COM>
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Training program feedback survey?
Date: March 28, 2013 10:51:29 AM EDT
Reply-To: DCHAS-L <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU>
Message-ID: <744f26b80f93ca37b35473c6be6ca068**At_Symbol_Here**mail.gmail.com>

We have developed this outline to help people understand the difference between the various classifications of near miss or injury. This has helped to bring consistency to how we classify and discuss incidents.
Ed

Event Type Definition by example
Safety Observation There is a pallet hanging over the edge of the rack and it looks like it could fall.
Near Miss The pallet just fell off the racking and hit the floor, but no one was hit or injured.
Minor Injury The pallet just fell off the rack and hit "Bob" in the arm, causing a bruise.
OSHA Illness/Injury The pallet just fell off the rack and hit "Bob" in the arm, causing a large bruise. Bob needed medication for the pain and was restricted from doing his regular job for a week.
Serious Injury
(>3 lost time days) The pallet fell off the rack and hit "Bob", breaking his arm. Bob's arm was put in a cast and he missed 5 days of work. When Bob returned, he was restricted from doing his regular job until the cast was removed.

Ed Austin, Ph.D.
Manager, Environmental, Health, and Safety
Sigma-Aldrich
Direct: (414) 438-3815
Mobile: (414) 333-4471

From: Melissa Charlton-Smith <charltonsmith**At_Symbol_Here**WVWC.EDU>
To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU,
Date: 03/27/2013 04:37 PM
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Training program feedback survey?
Sent by: DCHAS-L Discussion List <dchas-l**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU>

John, I also find "near misses" seem difficult for our faculty to remember to record. Sometimes just getting them to remember to record student lab incidents (spills, breaks, exposures) is difficult. I also supervise the departments lab assistants and part of their training is to fill out the tally sheets, especially when Instructors don't remember to. We tally everything from general small spills and breaks by students to large incidents (including injuries of course). We have a lab class cap at 24 students for lower level courses and smaller caps for upper level courses which typically may not have a lab assistant. In the 10 years that I've been here we had one fellow try to put a piece of glass tubing through his hand and 2 large 3L container breaks. Most (but not all) of our research is not hazardous chemistry. Hazard assessments are completed before research begins and are part of the proposal process. We have roughly 125-150 students taking chem labs per semester. Just out of curiosity I went to the OSHA site to define a "near miss" and this is what I found: OSHA DEFINITIONS ACCIDENT - The National Safety Council defines an accident as an undesired event that results in personal injury or property damage. INCIDENT - An incident is an unplanned, undesired event that adversely affects completion of a task. NEAR MISS - Near misses describe incidents where no property was damaged and no personal injury sustained, but where, given a slight shift in time or position, damage and/or injury easily could have occurred. Still somewhat vague as a spilled chemical may not cause damage or personal injury but there would still be property loss (the chemical) and adverse effects on completion of the task. Anyway....have a good evening all. Mel Mel Charlton-Smith Chemical Hygiene Officer, Lab Coordinator, Lecturer BS-CHO program Department of Chemistry WV Wesleyan College Buckhannon, WV 26201 charltonsmith**At_Symbol_Here**wvwc.edu 304-473-8355 -----Original Message----- From: DCHAS-L Discussion List [mailto:dchas-l**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU] On Behalf Of Nail, John Sent: Wednesday, March 27, 2013 12:39 PM To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Training program feedback survey? One of our (Oklahoma City University Chemistry Department's) departmental assessment objectives is laboratory safety. The only quantifiable way of assessing this objective is to record incidents and near misses. I note that there is a problem defining what is a 'near miss' and also a problem remembering to record the near misses. For what it's worth, we've had one incident in the past 10 years (a cut due to broken glassware). I note that the department is 3 faculty members, none of which do any hazardous chemistry research, and, we've never had more than 100 students taking chemistry labs during a semester. Any suggestions regarding quantifiable measurements of laboratory safety would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, John John Nail Chemistry Professor Oklahoma City University -----Original Message----- From: DCHAS-L Discussion List [mailto:dchas-l**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU] On Behalf Of Melissa Charlton-Smith Sent: Wednesday, March 27, 2013 9:21 AM To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Training program feedback survey? Along these same lines Ralph, I am keeping a running tally of incidents/near misses etc in our teaching labs including what type of incident and what it involves. Is anybody else doing this and would you be willing to share your data with me? Thanks Mel Mel Charlton-Smith Chemical Hygiene Officer, Lab Coordinator, Lecturer BS-CHO program Department of Chemistry WV Wesleyan College Buckhannon, WV 26201 charltonsmith**At_Symbol_Here**wvwc.edu 304-473-8355 -----Original Message----- From: DCHAS-L Discussion List [mailto:dchas-l**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU] On Behalf Of Ralph B. Stuart Sent: Wednesday, March 27, 2013 9:04 AM To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU Subject: [DCHAS-L] Training program feedback survey? I wonder if anyone in the academic portion of DCHAS-L has conducted a survey of people who have taken lab safety training for feedback on strong points and opportunities for improving the experience for participants. I would like to take on such an effort here and thought it would be good to know if other people have developed such tools and possibly what the results were as a benchmark. Thanks for any information on this. - Ralph Ralph Stuart CIH Chemical Hygiene Officer Department of Environmental Health and Safety Cornell University rstuart**At_Symbol_Here**cornell.edu
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Event Type	Definition by example
Safety Observation	There is a pallet hanging over the edge of the rack and it looks like it could fall.
Near Miss	The pallet just fell off the racking and hit the floor, but no one was hit or injured.
Minor Injury	The pallet just fell off the rack and hit "Bob" in the arm, causing a bruise.
OSHA Illness/Injury	The pallet just fell off the rack and hit "Bob" in the arm, causing a large bruise. Bob needed medication for the pain and was restricted from doing his regular job for a week.
Serious Injury (>3 lost time days)	The pallet fell off the rack and hit "Bob", breaking his arm. Bob's arm was put in a cast and he missed 5 days of work. When Bob returned, he was restricted from doing his regular job until the cast was removed.