The chem club was putting away all of their glassware after a demo show. It was a hot summer day and one of the students had changed out of her lab clothes and into her shorts and flip flops. She took a flask back to the stockroom and slipped on the way (not enough friction on the shoes) and dropped the flask. One of her feet was covered in tiny cuts. She had a nice gash on the bottom of her other foot. And, the flip flops were trashed because of all of the tiny Pyrex shards stuck in them.

On July 2, 2015, at 12:06 PM, Marie H Ebersole wrote:

I have work-study students who stock glassware in our chemistry teaching labs. One morning about 7 years ago a student was placing 1 liter beakers into a plastic tote. Apparently she missed actually putting the beaker into the tote and hit the front edge of the tote. The beaker shattered in her hand and as it fell sliced through her palm next to her thumb.. She lost quite a bit of blood and was taken to the hospital in an ambulance. Many stitches were required and then surgery when the wound did not heal properly. By far, the worst accident I have ever had happen to a student. Yes, I always use this as a case where an accident does not have to involve chemicals or any procedure that during an experiment.

On Thu, Jul 2, 2015 at 11:39 AM, Reeder, Debbie > wrote:
Most of our injuries have occurred to hands when students are inserting or removing pipet fillers on volumetric pipets. They insert them so far that they get stuck and then the pipet breaks from the torque applied when they have one hand at the filler end and the other one near the tip when they try to pull it off.

Debbie Reeder
Chemistry Lab Manager

Anne Arundel Community College
101 College Parkway
Arnold, MD 21012
410-777-2224
dmreeder**At_Symbol_Here**aacc.edu

-----Original Message-----
From: DCHAS-L Discussion List [mailto:dchas-l**At_Symbol_Here**med.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of Stuart, Ralph
Sent: Thursday, July 02, 2015 11:26 AM
To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Glassware injury lesson learned report?

Does anyone have a relatively detailed favorite Lessons Learned report for a situation which involves significant cuts from broken glassware in a lab that doesn?t involve over-pressurization of the vessel? I?m doing a training next week for undergraduate students and I?d like to make the point that it?s not always the chemistry that creates the problem. The example I have in mind could involve hot glassware that breaks when someone tries to pick it up and drops it, but similar events would be helpful as well.

Thanks for any assistance with this.

- Ralph

Ralph Stuart, CIH, CCHO
Chemical Hygiene Officer
Keene State College

ralph.stuart**At_Symbol_Here**keene.edu

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Marie Ebersole
Chem Prep Room Manager
Wellesley College

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