From:
Jeffrey Lewin <jclewin**At_Symbol_Here**MTU.EDU>
Subject:
Re: [DCHAS-L] Fire extinguisher training
Date:
Mar 27, 2024 15:35 UTC
Reply-To:
ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**Princeton.EDU>
Message-ID:
<CAEwQnqg53wFUEJwnf_Hfb3ha=pbu=P2ept279mh3pKBVM3aPqw**At_Symbol_Here**mail.gmail.com>
In-Reply-To:
<CAJug0Ow3zQL13e54yrwTJGbYsKsK8KLRZoGwUw4USFd6WZA6YA**At_Symbol_Here**mail.gmail.com>
Note, there is a typo in the citation: DOI:10.1021/acs.jchemed.3c01299 (no "0" at the end).
It might also be useful to look at where the data came from:
Supporting information The survey appears to be of graduate students on safety training they received as an undergraduate, including their experience as an undergraduate researcher.
Of the 41% that received fire extinguisher training, only 13 percent actually discharged a fire extinguisher.
Personally, I would not oppose fire extinguisher training for anyone, but as Ben points out, in an undergraduate teaching laboratory the emphasis should be on safely evacuating the lab and how to notify emergency services.
The article has lots of other interesting tidbits on safety experience as undergraduates - using SDSs, using PubChem, introduction to RAMP, etc.
Jeff
Jeff
Hello,
I was wondering how the group members feel about fire extinguisher training as a part of safety training in undergraduate laboratory courses.
A recent article in Journal of Chemical Education (DOI:10.1021/acs.jchemed.3c012990) indicated that approximately 45% of undergraduates were given fire extinguisher training as part of their chemistry laboratory safety training.
While this is useful knowledge in general, it does not seem relevant to undergraduate chemical safety training. In case of a fire, students should not attempt to put out the fire, but rather turn off electricity and gas for their experiments (conditions permitting), pull the fire alarm, and evacuate the building. It might well be argued that training in the use of fire extinguishers could be interpreted by some students as encouragement to use a fire extinguisher to fight a laboratory fire--constituting a training in unsafe behavior.
Thus, it would seem that the time spent in fire extinguisher training would be much better spent on important safety issues.
That is just my opinion regarding only undergraduate courses, not necessarily undergraduate or graduate research. Am I missing something or do CHAS members agree?
Thank you very much,
Ben
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