Why wasn't the educator taught fundamental laboratory safety? The answer to that is simple, Leslie:
Colorado does not require an academic major in the subjects being taught. From the Colorado Department of Education site on initial licensure of teachers:
An Initial Teacher License requires that an applicant submit his/her legal name, address and social secuirty number. Once these criteria are met, an initial license may be issued to an applicant who (among other things, HJE):
=B7 Has demonstrated professional competencies in the subject areas by completing 24 semester hours of course credit as demonstrated through transcript evaluation, or passage of the Colorado State Board of Education-approved content assessment relevant to the area of endorsement sought.
Yes - that's right - 24 hours in your area of "endorsement." The last time I checked, Gen Chem/Organic with labs was 16 of those hours. Fill that up with courses like "Seminar" and "Environmental chemistry" or "Chemistry for educators" and you can get 24 hours pretty quickly.
I was none-too-pleased about this when I wrote the March/April 2014 JCHAS editorial.
Harry
From: DCHAS-L Discussion List [mailto:dchas-l**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU] On Behalf Of Leslie Coop
Sent: Friday, October 24, 2014 1:34 PM
To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Colorado methanol fire case
Perhaps someone should ask the school he went to why he wasn't taught chemical safety procedures.
On Fri, Oct 24, 2014 at 10:12 AM, Ralph Stuart <rstuartcih**At_Symbol_Here**me.com> wrote:
I was struck the story in this morning's headlines that the Former Colorado Teacher was charged with four counts of third-degree assault, a Class 1 misdemeanor in the methanol demonstration lab explosion that occurred last month.
http://denver.cbslocal.com/2014/10/22/former-teacher-charged-in-lab-explosion-that-injured-students/
This seems much more likely to set a precedent than the UCLA fire, which was based on labor law specific to California. I hope that people who are in Colorado will let us know how this case proceeds, as it's not uncommon for these stories to fall off the press's radar.
- Ralph
Ralph Stuart
rstuartcih**At_Symbol_Here**me.com
--
Leslie Coop, MS, CCHO, CHMM
Chemical Hygiene Officer/ Stockroom Manager
Willamette University - 900 State Str - Salem, Oregon 97301
lcoop**At_Symbol_Here**willamette.edu - (501) 590-6026