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Date: Wed, 3 Feb 2010 10:04:48 -0700
Reply-To: DCHAS-L Discussion List <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**LIST.UVM.EDU>
Sender: DCHAS-L Discussion List <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**LIST.UVM.EDU>
From: "L. Scott Williams" <lscott**At_Symbol_Here**FRONTIERSCI.COM>
Subject: Re: Second/Final Call for: Safety Symposium and Workshop at the
21st BCCE, Summer 2010
In-Reply-To: <B1331E0BABBF2F41ADBB549EF89EA74A0329222AD031**At_Symbol_Here**WITTFSVS.wittenberg.edu>
David C. Finster wrote:
>
> DCHAS folks, (mostly of the academic persuasion…)
>
> This is a reminder (see below) of a symposium I am organizing at the
> BCCE this summer. The abstract deadline is Feb 12.
>
> Perhaps you haven’t submitted an abstract because your local safety
> program connected to your classes and labs seems “ordinarily” or not
> worthy of special notice. But, the purpose of the symposium is to
> share what we are doing on various campuses - however ordinary or
> extraordinary. Think: even if your program is unspectacular by your
> own standards, it may have elements to it that others can learn about
> and take home. Since safety instruction seems to be the area of
> chemical education needing the most improvement and attention, it may
> well be that your good idea gets adopted elsewhere by some audience
> members and, down the road, you indirectly prevent an incident (and
> all of its attendant problems) from happening! I’ll bet that youtcan’t
> say that about most papers you present (or hear).
>
> If you won’t be at the BCCE, perhaps a colleague who is planning to
> attend (but not on the CHAS listserve) could present your program.
> Forward this email. We will only develop better safety programs by
> learning about the various ways it can be done and locally importing
> what makes sense for our own programs.
>
> Dave
>
> David C. Finster
> Professor of Chemistry
> University Chemical Hygiene Officer
> Department of Chemistry
> Wittenberg University
> dfinster**At_Symbol_Here**wittenberg.edu
>
> *From:* David C. Finster
> *Sent:* Sunday, January 24, 2010 2:23 PM
> *To:* DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**LIST.UVM.EDU
> *Subject:* Safety Symposium and Workshop at the 21st BCCE, Summer 2010
>
> DCHAS folks,
>
> The 21^st Biennial Conference on Chemical Education (BCCE) will be in
> Denton, TX, from August 1-5, 2010. At this conference I am organizing
> a symposium on “ Teaching Safety in Chemistry Classes and Programs”
> and hosting a workshop on “Designing and Implementing Safety Programs
> Embedded in the Curriculum”.
>
> Please consider submitting an abstract for the symposium. The
> description is:
>
> The 2008 ACS CPT Guidelines for Bachelor’s Degree Programs reaffirm
> that undergraduate chemistry programs must include safety education
> “as in integral part of the chemistry curriculum” and “throughout
> their studies students must experience safety procedures and
> processes.” This symposium will include presentations of how different
> colleges and universities design and implement these CPT requirements,
> both in individual courses and in curriculum-wide programs. By sharing
> successful programs, we can all improve what we do on our home
> campuses and better educate our students for their future careers as
> safe scientists.
>
> The deadline for abstract submission is Feburary 12, 2010.
>
> More information about the conference is at:
> http://www.bcce2010.org/home/home.php
>
> Dave
>
> David C. Finster
> Professor of Chemistry
> University Chemical Hygiene Officer
> Department of Chemistry
> Wittenberg University
> dfinster**At_Symbol_Here**wittenberg.edu
>
Dear Dave,
I received your email. We get DCHAS messages.
I'm the safety manager for a small chemical manufacturer
here in Logan Utah. I take great interest in college level chem safety
because
today's students eventually become my employees. They bring their good or
bad safety habits with them. Some of our accidents over the years have come
from bad habits carried on by students. My comments here might give
greater weight and
scope to your symposium.
I'm replying to you because I think that I've stumbled upon a possible
trend.
If you read Chemical Engineering News (CE&N) then you probably know
about the
death at UCLA from a pyrophoric liquid. This week in CE&N I'm reading
about another
University accident involving a student at Texas Tech. This time the
Chemical
Safety Board (CSB) is performing the accident investigation. The
February article
in CE&N quotes as follows: "Depending on what the board turns up at
Texas Tech,
CSB may embark on an examination of U.S. academic lab safety, which could
happen next fall".
Like the weather, I keep tuned to these things. This event of the CSB at
Texas Tech
might be the first of a big storm of university compliance inspections
ebbing across the
country. I've spoken with our Utah Osha compliance officer; also a PhD.
chemist,
he indicates that nothing has come his way yet; however, the potential
is there. I've also spoken
to Federal Osha compliance. They state that if the accidents continue to
escalate, they will step in with
their own investigators (they would not indicate the percentage or
severity of the accidents that would
trigger this). A very bad day would be to have the CSB and/ or Fed Osha
knock on the
door to one of your grad student labs and you have no knowledge of what
to do!
If you don't believe this, ask Dr. Harran at UCLA how his days were
following the
December 29th accident in 2008. Like driver's ed, the instructor never
trains the students how to deal with being pulled over by the police-or
how to deal with involvement
in an accident for that matter! They just train them to pass the written
and road exams.
You may want to seek out a "get out of jail free" Osha consultation
visit. Our state does these
for free. Yours might also.
This is also the time to go back and rethink those sociology classes we
all had about B.F. Skinner
and behavior. Skinner never got his government contract in World War II,
but he is the icon for
human behavior in the safety-working environment. National Safety
Council training
references Skinner many times over.
My advice is to your group is to get totally Osha compliant now;
especially, with chemical hygiene. I know
of two gentlemen who are experts on lab accidents and training. They
both have their own
chemical safety companies and are with ACS. They are Dr. Neal Langerman and
Dr. James A. Kaufman. These individuals are listed on the
internet-simply type in their name.
I hope you have your own in-house experts at Wittenberg. If you're
looking for any outside
help, you can count me in. I've been at chem lab safety for 10 years now.
There are days when I chide our new chemists about their lack of PPE in
the lab: "Please use the PPE now, I know you hate to be told this, but
I'd rather nag you
now than to stand by your hospital bed or grave later".
I hope this helps. Happy and safe chemistry!
Cordially,
L. Scott Williams
Frontier Scientific Safety Office
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