> >I'm with Debbie on this one, I was shocked when I learned just how many 'shades of grey' there are with respect to applicability of Worker's Compensation coverage for graduate students. Especially if one obtains merit-based funding from scholarships, fellowships, and traineeships.
>
Throw in the visiting scientists from all over the world and the situation becomes even more confused in the event of a lab injury.

As an EHS person, my concern about this confusion is its impact on emergency response. If someone who is injured doesn‰??t know the financial consequences of a decision to call 911 for medical help, there is a significant disincentive to act responsibly in case of a chemical exposure. This can place no only themselves at risk, but other lab workers who are in the area, since a delayed response to an emergency could lead to the spread of the event to impact other people.

I have also found that this confusion makes it difficult to do a follow up investigation since the injured party is concerned about further unknown consequences associated with the event.

- Ralph

Ralph Stuart, CIH, CCHO
Environmental Safety Manager
Keene State College
603 358-2859

ralph.stuart**At_Symbol_Here**keene.edu

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