From: "Secretary, ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety" <secretary**At_Symbol_Here**DCHAS.ORG>
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Webinar: Explosion at the University of MinnesotaĐEvaluating the Hazards and Communicating Lessons Learned
Date: Fri, 14 Nov 2014 05:55:26 +0000
Reply-To: DCHAS-L <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU>
Message-ID: BCFB98FF-66B8-4317-AEBD-BD4DC41B041C**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org


http://cshema.org/content.aspx?id=2391

Explosion at the University of Minnesota‰??Evaluating the Hazards and Communicating Lessons Learned

Dec. 3, 2 p.m. Eastern

Program Description

A large explosion during a synthesis of trimethylsilyl azide occurred at the University of Minnesota, severely injuring a fifth-year graduate student and extensively damaging the lab. Further investigation revealed that a direct cause of this incident was a flawed hazard assessment of the reaction and its scale. Details of the event from a chemist‰??s perspective will be explained. The investigation process will be explained, along with lessons learned and response actions taken by both the research group and department. We will discuss how this incident has been used in training sessions for other research departments within the university to help them understand the importance of and how to perform a thorough hazard analysis.

This program will be presented by Anna Sitek, research safety professional for the University of Minnesota; Jodi Ogilvie, chemical hygiene officer at the University of Minnesota; and William Tolman, distinguished McKnight university professor and chemistry department chair, University of Minnesota.

Registration is free for CSHEMA members. For nonmembers, there is a $130 registration fee.


As a result of attending this program, participants will know about:

The incident from a chemists point of view
What was being done to prevent an incident
Why the controls and prevention strategies were thought to be adequate
How insufficient controls and prevention strategies came to be used
What were the lessons learned and how they were identified
What has been done in response to this incident
As a result of attending this program, participants will be able to:

Take actions to improve their Hazard evaluation process in their research programs
Take actions to improve their academic research departments

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