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Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Filling balloons with hydrogen gas
Date: Jul 7, 2023 17:46 UTC
Author: davivid <davivid**At_Symbol_Here**WELL.COM>
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Filling balloons with hydrogen gas
Date: Jul 7, 2023 18:22 UTC
Author: Jack Reidy <jreidy2**At_Symbol_Here**STANFORD.EDU>
From: Kolodziej, Christopher <ckolodziej**At_Symbol_Here**EHS.UCLA.EDU>
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Insights from a laboratory fire
Date: Jul 7, 2023 18:03 UTC
Reply-To: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**Princeton.EDU>
Message-ID: <SJ0PR04MB7773285DF7273A640EA227C5F72DA**At_Symbol_Here**SJ0PR04MB7773.namprd04.prod.outlook.com>
In-Reply-To: <trinity-b438b45b-1979-40b3-b68f-c625440dc21a-1688712515114@3c-app-mailcom-bs05>
Hugo,
There’s not enough information in this article that would let us assess the lab’s safety culture with total confidence, but there are some positive signs. The
authors mention that proper storage of their flammable chemicals and minimization of waste prevented them from igniting during the fire, so they were doing something right in that regard. On the other hand, they did fail to follow best practice by placing
a laptop into storage without first removing the lithium battery.
However, I think the biggest clue as to the state of their safety culture is the fact that they wrote this article in the first place, eschewed obvious opportunities
to identify and punish individuals who contributed to the accident, and had it published in one of the highest-profile chemistry journals. Proactive sharing of incidents and blame-free learning are not generally accepted features of pathological or reactive
safety cultures.
Chris
________________________________
Christopher M. Kolodziej, Ph.D.
Chemical Hygiene Officer
UCLA Environment, Health & Safety
| Chemical Safety
Mobile: (203) 241-6515
My working hours may not be your working hours. Please do not feel obligated to reply outside of your normal work schedule.
From: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**Princeton.EDU>
On Behalf Of Hugo G. Schmidt
Sent: Thursday, July 6, 2023 11:49 PM
To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**Princeton.EDU
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Insights from a laboratory fire
Anyone who has access, can you please confirm something for me?
I've been reading the safety literature for the last 10 years, and I have yet to come across a major disaster that didn't happen in a lab where the safety culture was already lousy.
The Sheri Sangji atrocity is the best known, but there are many others. So, I am going to guess that this was the same in this situation?
Best,
Hugo
Sent: Thursday, July 06, 2023 at 5:04 PM
From: "Kolodziej, Christopher" <ckolodziej**At_Symbol_Here**EHS.UCLA.EDU>
To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**Princeton.EDU
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Insights from a laboratory fire
Thanks for sharing, Ralph! Anyone who’s associated with laboratory research would benefit from reading it. There are plenty of insights and lessons learned, but I think the
part that will grab the attention of researchers is how they described, in very personal terms, how the fire impacted them:
“Less quantifiable consequences of the fire were the psychological factors associated with it, stress being one, and feelings of guilt another... The stress was aggravated
by the thoughts of interviews and investigations that would follow with the fire brigade, police, insurance agents and university representatives, but much of this stress was in fact unwarranted. The insurers did pay out and the investigations were not confrontational
or accusative, but were instead professional, compassionate and supportive.
Only after the last investigator left did the full weight of reality set in. Our prized laboratory was now a useless, smelly, wet, burnt-out shell. We had lost equipment,
ongoing and legacy samples, intermediates and written records such as laboratory books. It is one thing to think in terms of lost laboratory and research functionality, but we also suffered less tangible and quantifiable losses in creativity and innovation,
competitive edge, funding potential and reputation due to delays in experimental work and publishing our research.”
Chris
________________________________
Christopher M. Kolodziej, Ph.D.
Chemical Hygiene Officer
UCLA Environment, Health & Safety | Chemical
Safety
Mobile: (203) 241-6515
My working hours may not be your working hours. Please do not feel obligated to reply outside of
your normal work schedule.
-----Original Message-----
From: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**Princeton.EDU> On Behalf Of Ralph Stuart
Sent: Thursday, July 6, 2023 4:57 AM
To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**Princeton.EDU
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Insights from a laboratory fire
FYI, there is an 5 page article on a 2021 laboratory fire in Nature Chemistry that was published yesterday. The fire was in Vienna and appears to have been ignited by a neglected
Lithium battery in a long unused laptop. The laptop was associated with a legacy piece of analytical equipment in the lab.
Unfortunately, the article is behind a paywall, so I can’t read beyond the first page, but I have an Interlibrary Loan request in to retrieve the complete article. I suspect
that there is more useful information in the “insights” portion of the article. It can be found at
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41557-023-01254-6
Let me know if you have any questions about this.
- Ralph
Ralph Stuart, CIH, CCHO
ralph**At_Symbol_Here**rstuartcih.org
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