I've been filling an NMR with LN2 for over 10 years. This fall, for the fi rst time ever, I was splashed with LN2.on my face. It happened at the co mpletion of the fill. Nitrogen came from the fill port spraying 6-8 inche s into the air. The splash was very small, but resulted in some minor col d burns on my face. After a little investigation, I've concluded the the dewar was over pressurized. I used to use just safety glasses. Since then, I always wear a face shield and safety glasses. Ann -- Ann Klotz School of Science Siena College 515 Loudon Road Loudonville, NY 12211-1462 Office Phone: 518-783-2402 Cell Phone 518-860-8489 Siena College is a learning community advancing the ideals of a liberal art s education, rooted in its identity as a Franciscan and Catholic institutio n. ________________________________ From: ILPIReply-To: DCHAS-L Discussion List Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2010 16:05:14 -0500 To: Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Cryogenics face shield? This is another one of those topics that telegraphs the safety disconnect b etween academia and industry. I have 15 years of experience using liquid nitrogen at four major research institutions (on a daily basis for many of those) and I don't recall anyone *ever* using a face shield when working with liquid nitrogen, and that inc ludes filling 200 liter dewars from the larger building supply dewar and th e NMR lab techs who do the routine N2/He fills. At *best* safety glasses w ere used, and I can distinctly recall seeing folks doing Dewar fills withou t any eye protection - after all, they weren't in the lab anymore, they wer e down by the loading dock or in a basement somewhere for the big fills, an d safety glasses are only required in labs, right? Of course, in those 15 years I never saw or heard of an incident involving liquid nitrogen that required any sort of first aid treatment. I did see a second degree frostbite burn on someone who carried a block of dry ice wit hout gloves, personally found out that sticking my head way down into the d ry ice chest to get the last block is not a good idea, and saw (as you all know) plenty of fires and explosions, but no issues with liquid N2. Now, I'm not saying that liquid N2 is harmless and that you don't need face shields or other protection (insulating gloves, even ear plugs for Dewar t ransfers). Although one could probably argue face shields are overkill, th at's not the point of my comment. The point is that the academic research community is often blind to best pr actices. The safety culture of academia is undermined by the transient nat ure of the staff (grad students showing new grad students how they learned to do things "safely"). We saw that with the UCLA tragedy and I can all bu t guarantee that there are still labs that use improper transfer techniques for pyrophorics because that's the way they've always been done in those l abs. How do we unlearn bad habits that come about through inertia or overs ight? How do academics prepare students for a job in industry when they've never held industrial jobs themselves? It's almost like we (i.e. industry, academia, chemists, biologists, safety admins etc.) need a peer-reviewed and maintained "Wikipedia of Research Saf ety" that researchers everywhere could *easily* turn to as a gold standard of sorts. Want to know the safe way of doing a particular procedure or th e dangers or a particular chemical? Go there. Want to know how formalin i s handled at other institutions? Go there and find a concise listing. For get random web searches, we need one central location with definitive answe rs. I'd say that the DCHAS community's response to the UCLA incident was an exc ellent first step in that direction. And there are many other individual r esources out there that could be linked to for further information. I wo nder if something like I describe would be fundable through ACS/NSF/NIH etc .? Would there be a support for a Safety Initiative that could underlie t he thousands of individual efforts made by colleges, universities, and busi nesses alike? Something that would not just make safety compliance easier but better? I guess that's all a whole new thread.... Rob Toreki ======================== ========================= ===== Safety Emporium - Lab & Safety Supplies featuring brand names you know and trust. Visit us at http://www.SafetyEmporium.com esales**At_Symbol_Here**safetyemporium.com or toll-free: (866) 326-5412 Fax: (856) 553-6154, PO Box 1003, Blackwood, NJ 08012 A lab tech writes: Do you have a recommendation for an appropriate face shield that people should be using when working with LN2? I've been searching the web and it's hard to find a specific recommendation for a face shield to be worn with cryogenics. I don't see any guidelines on OSHA that point to any particulars and nothing on the Cryogenic Society of America's site either. I would appreciate your assistance. Does anyone have any favorites they'd like to recommend? - Ralph Ralph Stuart, CIH Environmental Safety Manager University of Vermont Environmental Safety Facility 667 Spear St. Burlington, VT 05405 rstuart**At_Symbol_Here**uvm.edu fax: (802)656-5407
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