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Previous by Date: Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Judge denies three Harran defense motions Date: Tue, 27 Aug 2013 19:27:36 -0500 Author: Harry Elston |
Next by Date: Subject: [DCHAS-L] Tweets and Chemical Safety headlines (6 articles) Date: Wed, 28 Aug 2013 07:48:47 -0400 Author: "Secretary, ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety" |
I was taught that in California supervisors are liable for the safety
behavior of their reports. I had all our managers and supervisors take a
class whose main point was that fact. It got some of their attention.
Not mentioned in much of this and the changes since is the huge need to
document training, even if it is done one on one in front of a hood by a
more senior member of the lab. This is one of the issues in the case, i.e.
The absence of training records.
Lee
On 8/27/13 3:26 PM, "Russ Phifer" > Actually, the only precedent here is that he is a professor, and the accident
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> was in a chemical laboratory. There have been other similar cases in industry
> where a supervisor was criminally charged for "failure to follow occupational
> health & safety regulations". I know of one in particular in 1987 that was the
> result of a death from exposure to arsine gas. Ironically, the individual who
> died was the official safety manager for a very small plant that reconditioned
> gas cylinders. The two exposed employees in that case both smelled arsine gas,
> and yet waited about 40 minutes while the plant supervisor finished a meeting
> before telling him. He rushed them to the hospital and one died about 10 days
> later. The supervisor was charged with criminal negligence by OSHA.
> (Eventually he was exonerated, however).
>
> Russ Phifer
> WC Environmental, LLC
> 1085C Andrew Drive
> West Chester, PA 19380
> Fax 800-858-6273
> Cell - 610-322-0657
> rphifer**At_Symbol_Here**wcenvironmental.com
>
> Please consider your environmental responsibility before printing this e-mail
> or any other document
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: DCHAS-L Discussion List [mailto:dchas-l**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU] On Behalf Of
> Koza, Mary Beth Christine
> Sent: Tuesday, August 27, 2013 4:31 PM
> To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU
> Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Judge denies three Harran defense motions
>
> I agree with that statement.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: DCHAS-L Discussion List [mailto:dchas-l**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU] On Behalf Of
> William Hoyt
> Sent: Tuesday, August 27, 2013 4:21 PM
> To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU
> Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Judge denies three Harran defense motions
>
> Wouldn't a conviction make all PIs, not just most, safer?
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: DCHAS-L Discussion List [mailto:dchas-l**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU] On Behalf Of
> Russell Vernon
> Sent: Tuesday, August 27, 2013 10:41 AM
> To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU
> Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Judge denies three Harran defense motions
>
> Assuming this case ends up with a conviction that stands on appeal, I expect a
> large brain drain out of California...
> We have the ONLY state of which I am aware with a law that criminalizes
> failure to follow occupational health & safety code...
>
> -Russ
>
> Russell Vernon, Ph.D.
> Director
> Environmental Health & Safety
> University of California, Riverside
> 900 University Ave
> Riverside, CA 92521
> www.ehs.ucr.edu
> russell.vernon**At_Symbol_Here**ucr.edu
> Direct (951) 827-5119
> Admin (951) 827-5528
> Fax (951) 827-5122
>
> Taking a trip overseas?
> Access Location Intelligence: https://ermsp.ucop.edu/uctrip and enter your UC
> Net ID
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: DCHAS-L Discussion List [mailto:dchas-l**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU] On Behalf Of
> Ralph B. Stuart
> Sent: Tuesday, August 27, 2013 4:27 AM
> To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU
> Subject: [DCHAS-L] Judge denies three Harran defense motions
>
> http://cenblog.org/the-safety-zone/
>
> A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge today denied three defense motions
> that could have dismissed a criminal case against University of California,
> Los Angeles, chemistry professor Patrick Harran. With the rulings going
> against the defense, the case moves closer to trial. The judge set the next
> court date for Oct. 3. Harran could go to trial within 60 days of that date.
>
> Harran faces four felony charges of violating the state labor code. The
> charges stem from the death of research assistant Sheharbano (Sheri) Sangji
> after a 2008 fire in Harran's lab. In November and December, 2012, Judge Lisa
> B. Lench heard testimony in a preliminary hearing on the case. She ruled in
> April that there was sufficient evidence to send the case to trial. After the
> preliminary hearing, the case was sent to Judge George G. Lomeli for trial.
>
> Before today's hearing, Harran's attorneys submitted three motions: one asking
> the judge for a so-called Franks hearing, another called a demurrer, and a
> third to dismiss the charges based on lack of probable cause. The district
> attorney's office replied to each motion, and the defense then responded in
> writing to those replies.
>
> More at the site above...
>
> - Ralph
>
> Ralph Stuart CIH
> Chemical Hygiene Officer
> Department of Environmental Health and Safety Cornell University
>
> rstuart**At_Symbol_Here**cornell.edu