UCLA Professor Arraigned in Fatal Accident

LA Times

A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge entered a not guilty plea Wednesday on behalf of a UCLA chemistry professor arraigned on felony charges in a 2008 laboratory fire that killed a staff research assistant.

Judge Shelly Torrealba also set a preliminary hearing on Oct. 9 for professor Patrick Harran, who is charged with three counts of willfully violating state occupational health and safety standards.

School District Chemicals Audit Reaches End

By: Cathyrn Creno, Arizona Republic News

WV DEP

After the Arizona Fire Marshal’s Office wrote up Mesa High School during the first week of school for improper storage and identification of chemicals on campus, the district is nearing completion of a comprehensive effort to identify and log thousands of chemicals in Mesa’s 84 schools.

The district is entering the names, amounts and expiration dates of the substances into a database that can be accessed by school officials and outside emergency workers. Officials also are creating a comprehensive safety training program for everyone who handles chemicals in the district — from custodians to chemistry teachers.

UCLA 2009 Incident - Felony Charges

Sangji's lab notebook reveals that she

planned to react vinyl bromide with

tert-butyllithium as the first step of a

larger synthesis. ACS

Below are articles reviewing the most recent information on the investigation.

Los Angeles Times

Felony charges filed against UC and a UCLA chemistry professor after fatal laboratory fire

A research assistant was fatally burned when chemicals burst into flame. Her death three years ago has focused attention on safety issues.

December 28, 2011

Picric Acid Leads to Evacuation at School

By: Hilary Lane WKTV

Photo Credit HERE.

WATERVILLE, N.Y. (WKTV) - Students and staff members at Waterville Junior and Senior High School were evacuated a little after Noon on Thursday the New York State Police Bomb Disposal Unit out of Albany was called in to assess and dispose of some potentially hazardous chemicals.

"We are concerned about one of the chemicals that is possibly dangerous and could call an explosion," says Gary Lonczak, superintendent of schools. The main issue is a bottle of picric acid which is over 25 years old.

Academic Lab Safety Under Examination

Chemical safety board report probes academic research practices, identifies role for American Chemical Society (ACS )

From: Chemical & Engineering News

By: Jeff Johnson And Jyllian Kemsley

Source:Texas Tech University

A fire at one university that led to a researcher’s death and an explosion at another that seriously injured a graduate student are among several incidents in the past few years that have turned a spotlight on safety practices in academic chemistry laboratories. 

Since 2001, more than 120 university lab accidents have caused injuries, millions of dollars in damages, and one death, according to the federal Chemical Safety & Hazard Investigation Board (CSB).

OSHA Releases New Lab Safety Materials

From: Occupational Health and Safety Online

OSHA recently published new educational materials for laboratory managers on protecting their workers from exposure to chemical, biological, and physical hazards on the OSHA laboratory safety website.

The new materials include the Laboratory Safety Guidance document, which describes how electrical, fire, explosions, and falls, among other hazards, can be minimized or eliminated if employers use safety plans, worker training, engineering controls, and personal protective equipment. New laboratory safety materials also include fact sheets that each focus on a specific hazard related to laboratory environments. Practices and precautions to protect laboratory personnel include safety guidance for using autoclaves, use of chemical fume hoods, labeling and transferring chemicals, and latex exposure.