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From: "Kennedy, Sheila" <s1kennedy**At_Symbol_Here**ucsd.edu>
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Fire extinguisher use in chem labs by instructors
Date: Fri, 4 Dec 2015 18:37:51 +0000
Reply-To: DCHAS-L <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU>
Message-ID: edcx9vqolcy0otkvpwgp9xjo.1449254290320**At_Symbol_Here**email.android.com
Ralpha Start wrote:
"....she abandoned the situation and called the fire department. This was the correct decision, but some of the feedback she received suggested that she had mishandled the situation by not using the extinguisher."
My sense- and our practice - is that any emergency response that keeps PEOPLE safe is a good response. All feedback to such a student should be "good job!"
Pilots say "Any landing you walk away from is a good landing. "
S.M.Kennedy
Chemistry.ucsd.edu/go/labsafety
From: Ralph Stuart <rstuartcih**At_Symbol_Here**ME.COM>
Date: 12/4/2015 5:31 AM (GMT-08:00)
To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**MED.CORNELL.EDU
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Fire extinguisher use in chem labs by instructors
> > But they MUST be trained to make that fight or flight decision
In my experience, this is the big challenge. Most fire extinguisher training I have seen is a review of P.A.S.S. and perhaps a hands on chance to try it out. This misses out on the factors Rob enumerates on his web site about when to use the extinguisher. We had a grease fire in a dorm kitchen last semester and the student involved couldn’t remember if the fire extinguisher available was water or dry chemical based, so she abandoned the situation and called the fire department. This was the correct decision, but some of the feedback she received suggested that she had mishandled the situation by not using the extinguisher.
Given the diversity of skills of the employee population in a lab setting, developing and maintaining the ability to make the fight or flight decision is a safety culture challenge rather than a training challenge. The CSB videos on research and teaching lab fires provide interesting examples of this.
- Ralph
Ralph Stuart, CIH
rstuartcih**At_Symbol_Here**me.com
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