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Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] lab coat question
Date: June 6, 2012 4:10:18 PM EDT
Author: Brady Arnold 		Next by Date:
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] lab coat question
Date: June 6, 2012 4:29:48 PM EDT
Author: "Baker, Sheila"

From: ILPI <info**At_Symbol_Here**ILPI.COM>
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Sheri Sangji hearing this week
Date: June 6, 2012 4:13:32 PM EDT
Reply-To: DCHAS-L <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU>
Message-ID: <CAN0bzO7XuZ3=MRgdUarrq4JunZijo4=WwL9H1vOm1o+Jm+=2bQ**At_Symbol_Here**mail.gmail.com>


While I generally agree with Allen, I have to say that safety showers can be *very* effective at putting out clothing fires.  Where I worked years ago we had an incident involving a fairly major fire and explosion.  The primary victim was pulled/guided out of the lab into the hallway and her clothing was still on fire.  The safety shower was about five steps away - in this case it was the easier and more effective choice, particularly as the coworker responders did not have to try patting flames out with their hands or search for a fire blanket, lab coat etc.

Obviously,  it all comes down to common sense and the best approach for a given set of circumstances.   You should not try to make it to a safety shower 100 feet away if you are fully engulfed in flames.   General rules are good - they have a place and there is a lot to be said about training people to respond on autopilot in an emergency by reinforcing mantras.  However, there is also a great deal to be said for teaching people how to recognize and select their best options in an emergency situation by thinking through possible emergency scenarios before they occur.

The accident I detailed above needn't be seen as describing a set of dueling choices: roll or shower.  If we had drop stopped and rolled her, the next step would have been to put her under the shower as it would not only eliminate re-ignition, but also provide soothing relief from the burns.

In fact, this is exactly the sort of situation we are hoping to address in the DCHAS Lessons Learned project.  There are numerous instances in which victims and/or responders have bypassed safety equipment or procedures because they were focused on a single reaction modality or thought (UCLA, and many others).   Of course, any such response is (usually) better than no response or a panic one.  Gotta crawl before you can walk.

Rob Toreki

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On Jun 6, 2012, at 2:55 PM, Allen Niemi wrote:

And that is what a safety shower is for. It is not for putting out clothing fires - stop, drop, and roll for that.


--
Allen Niemi, PhD
Director
Occupational Safety and Health Services
Room 322 Lakeshore Center
Michigan Technological University
Phone: 906-487-2118
Fax:     906-487-3048

On Wed, Jun 6, 2012 at 1:58 PM, Bristol, John (JR) <JRBristol**At_Symbol_Here**dow.com> wrote:

That is what was reported after it happened. She was taken to a sink and a coworker doused her with water from there.  The safety shower was used by emergency responders when they arrived, mostly for  decontamination purposes.

 

John

 

John Bristol
EH&S Delivery Specialist
The Dow Chemical Company
North Andover, MA 01845
phone: 978.689.1507  |  email: jrbristol**At_Symbol_Here**dow.com

 

 

From: DCHAS-L Discussion List [mailto:dchas-l**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU] On Behalf Of vaiju.bagal**At_Symbol_Here**MERCKGROUP.COM
Sent: Wednesday, June 06, 2012 12:31 PM
To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Sheri Sangji hearing this week

 

It appears in the recent coverage of this event that the report by California OSHA did not address whether the lab safety shower was used. I understood that a post-doc just poured water from a bucket on her instead of taking her to the safety shower, Was that in fact true? Of course if she was on flames that may have been difficult to do.


Ujjvala (Vaiju) Bagal
Specialist, Methods Development
Phone: 01-912-964-9050 ext.53236
Fax:     01-912-966-5917
Email:   Vaiju.Bagal**At_Symbol_Here**merckgroup.com

EMD Chemicals
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Home:   www.emdchemicals.com

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