An e-mail from a non-CHAS member that I thought CHAS people might be interested in and/or have useful responses to... - Ralph From: glasfeld**At_Symbol_Here**reed.edu Subject: Accidents in Chemistry Date: June 18, 2006 2:34:22 PM EDT I hope the following suggestion isn't from too far out in left field. I just read a short article in Nature discussing chemical safety, with a particular mention to the relatively greater hazards associated with academic research (Nature vol. 441, p. 560). Alongside that article were a few dramatic and cautionary tales. It struck me that there should be some way (and there may already be) to distribute these stories, particularly to undergraduates just getting started. As a sometime mountaineer, I'm reminded of a (fortunately) slim publication by the American Alpine Club called "Accidents in North American Mountaineering", which provides a summary of accidents reported to the club in a given calendar year, along with analyses. These make great reading. They attract a certain morbid fascination, but also carry some important take-home lessons about safety. I would be great if there were a similar resource on chemical safety, especially one that would attract the attention of younger chemists (and their teachers) - perhaps something like "Accidents in North American Academic Chemistry". Does something like this exist? If not, I hope your division would consider some sort of publication that might serve that purpose. Thanks in advance for your consideration - again, I hope I'm not too far out on this idea, Sincerely, Arthur Glasfeld Department of Chemistry Reed College 3203 SE Woodstock Blvd. Portland, OR 97202 USA
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