DCHAS-L Archives, Feb 12, 2025 - Re: [DCHAS-L] Whoosh Bottle Incident

I'm with you on this one. As soon as there is a standard or a regulation out there, two important things happen in my industry (entertainment, primarily the film industry).

1. Our contracts require employers to follow all health and safety regulations, so we never call OSHA, Instead, we grieve a violation, which takes time. Time = BIG money. So negotiations usually begin the same day we point out the problem, and it is usually settled that same day. Can't have stars being paid millions sitting around doing nothing. So don't worry about enforcement in our industry. Our unions will do that.

2. There are a lot of lawsuits in entertainment and the arts. And it is possible to introduce OSHA regulations into personal injury trials as best practice or accepted practice. It sometimes takes an extra (Berger or Frye) hearing before the judge to do it. But once this permission is granted, a gross violation of an OSHA regulation by an employer can support a claim of negligence.

Now before you think this doesn't apply to you, I also do expert witness in lawsuits that involve universities and schools that have had an incident in an art, theater, or film class. Same applies to those lawsuits. And we can explain to juries that the OSHA rules or exposure limits are applicable only to paid adult (18 - 65) healthy workers. Students are entitled to much better protection that that afforded workers by OSHA. When the injured party is a student we have some additional clout.

And while it is tricky to get an OSHA regulation into a personal injury lawsuit, a standard is always excepted without issue. So if an NFPA standard of practice is violated and it results in an accident, that NFPA standard is the equivalent of having every one of the experts listed on the title page as an expert witnesses on your side!!!!

And I'm sure lawyers representing Plaintiffs in your laboratory accidents can use the same strategy.

So let's have good OSHA regulations and NFPA, ASTM, ANSI, ESTA standards. They ALL will be useful in some way. Monona

On Wednesday, February 12, 2025 at 10:52:12 AM EST, 000006c59248530b-dmarc-request**At_Symbol_Here**LISTS.PRINCETON.EDU <000006c59248530b-dmarc-request**At_Symbol_Here**lists.princeton.edu> wrote:

I understand your concerns and understand the points you raise. However I take strong exception to your statement.

Without clear pathways for implementation, standards just become barriers—either ignored or inconsistently applied.

I am sorry Stephen but this sounds like the same blanket reasons what academia continues to argue why they cannot follow practices that have worked in industry for decades. (It’s too costly; it’s too hard; I get no support; I don’t know what to do; It won’t work in my school. I don’t have the time. I don’t have the onsite support to explain it to me. Etc., etc. etc.)

I think that if we push people to understand they need to follow the standard they will find the time to understand what it requires and how to implement it safely. It is actually not very hard. I suspect the only way to get academia to do that is if enough schools are successfully sued so that they recognize the need for compliance.

A standard is never a barrier except in that it tries to keep you from hurting yourself or others. Rather it is a good guide for how to do things safely so I think it is a great enabler.

So, as an almost 30 year member of the NFPA 45 Technical Committee I will keep reminding people that have good guidance if they will only take the time to read it.

Sorry to respectfully disagree.

From: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**Princeton.EDU> On Behalf Of Stephen Taylor
Sent: Tuesday, February 11, 2025 10:28 AM
To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**Princeton.EDU
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Whoosh Bottle Incident

Great point about NFPA 45-12—Jim was heavily involved in the development of the standard, so I’ll be sure to reference it in the article. Here are a few additional points:

While NFPA 45-12 sets an important benchmark, the real challenge is practical implementation in K-12 schools. (1) Many districts lack dedicated safety personnel, leaving science safety entirely up to individual teachers (as implied in the standard since it references the individual instructor)—most of whom aren’t formally trained in hazard analysis or risk assessment. (2) With STEM teacher shortages, more schools are relying on emergency-certified instructors or teachers working outside their expertise, making it unrealistic to expect each individual teacher to be aware of the standard AND to effectively evaluate high-risk experiments like the Whoosh Bottle. (3) So, we can then encourage teachers not to do demos or experiments when they haven't performed the requisite hazard analysis, but current curriculum standards (i.e., NGS standards) encourage hands-on, constructivist learning as a best practice. And because teachers are driven by the curriculum, the safety requirements can be overlooked when established processes are not in place.

So the issue isn’t just about having a standard—it’s about making it usable and accessible for all STEM educators. Without clear pathways for implementation, standards just become barriers—either ignored or inconsistently applied. Rather than simply advocating for NFPA 45-12, we need actionable strategies to help schools integrate it effectively across entire districts. Here are a few thoughts:

Establishing district-wide science safety committees to evaluate high-risk experiments.
Providing training that translates NFPA 45-12 into real classroom practice.
Offering safer alternatives and clear guidelines to support teachers.

My real goal is to help create pathways to compliance that empowers school districts to deploy standards like the NFPA 45-12 in a way that is practical, sustainable, and actually helps teachers with their job functions.

Thoughts?

Stephen Taylor, Ph.D.
Executive Director

The Laboratory Safety Institute

www.labsafety.org

Stephen Taylor | LinkedIn

PS. Be sure to take our Safer Science Self-Assessment to see how your School or University stacks up!

On Mon, Feb 10, 2025 at 11:47 AM <000006c59248530b-dmarc-request**At_Symbol_Here**lists.princeton.edu> wrote:

A good article but it fails to note that NFPA 45 has specific requirements for demonstrations which, if followed, would help prevent accidents like this. So let’s get the word out to follow an established, well known, and proven standard.

From: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**Princeton.EDU> On Behalf Of Stephen Taylor
Sent: Monday, February 10, 2025 8:42 AM
To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**Princeton.EDU
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Whoosh Bottle Incident

I thought that I would share another Whoosh Bottle Incident that happened last week in Indiana at a local high school.

Glass bottle explosion injures students, chemistry teacher at Southport High School | Fox 59

Also here is an article that I wrote over the weekend in response to the incident for anyone that is interested,
Stephen Taylor, Ph.D.
Executive Director
The Laboratory Safety Institute
www.labsafety.org
Stephen Taylor | LinkedIn

PS. Be sure to take our Safer Science Self-Assessment to see how your School or University stacks up!
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