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Lab explosion mismanaged? Illegal operation? It's much more than that
A suspected gas explosion in a laboratory of the College of Chemical Engineering at China University of Mining and Technology has killed one graduate student and injured four others, including the amputation of a foreign company employee, in what is considered a very serious accident in a university laboratory. It is a pity that young and promising students are hurt or even lose their lives because they do experiments!
When an explosion occurs in a laboratory, the relevant departments will first think that it is the superficial cause of poor management and illegal operations, but it is actually far more than that. Deeper causes of accidents, such as safety management systems, may have been laid, waiting for the operator to ignite. Little excavation and analysis of the causes of accidents will be of no benefit to the entire academic community to prevent laboratory accidents in the future.
In January 2010, an explosion occurred in a laboratory at Texas Tech University in the United States, and the graduate student who operated it lost three fingers on his left hand. After the incident, the United States CSB(Chemical Safety Investigation Board) conducted a detailed investigation and in-depth analysis for more than a year, from the physical danger of explosive nickel hydrazine perchlorate to operating procedures, from the tracking record of the attempted accident to the laboratory safety management system, from compliance with OSHA regulations and standards to the organizational structure of the university. The reason for this is that the investigation report should not only focus on the Texas Tech accident, but also learn from the safety management of all chemical laboratories in the United States.
Only from the perspective of laboratory safety management, CSB points out that there are three deficiencies: first, only the health hazards of employees are managed, and the physical hazards of chemicals are not managed enough; Second, there is no good lesson summary of the attempted events that occurred before; Third, the organization lacks safety responsibility and effective supervision.
Inadequate management of the physical hazards of chemicals is reflected in the Chemical Hygiene Plan (CHP) developed by the laboratory, the lack of measurement and risk assessment of physical hazards, the lack of operational standards and written authorization procedures, and the focus of personal protective equipment on health hazards rather than preventing flammable and explosive risks. Secondly, the laboratory did not track, analyze and record all the attempted incidents, and improve the safety system accordingly. At the management level of the organization, the CSB recommends that EH&S(Occupational Safety, Health and Environment) managers report directly to the Vice President in charge of research, rather than the former Vice President for Administration, as this would hinder the development of research safety. The school should pay full attention to the safety recommendations of EH&S management and act on them, not just the individual decisions of a laboratory leader.
It could be argued that the CSB report focused on the deficiencies in the management systems exposed by the Texas Tech lab explosion, rather than a single operational cause or the dangers of the chemicals. For this reason, the CSB calls on American universities to develop better documentation and communication measures for safe laboratory operations, and to assess the multifaceted risks of chemical laboratories under the guidance of relevant institutions.
Therefore, the mine laboratory explosion accident is a good opportunity to deeply analyze the safety management of the entire university laboratory in our country, and we can not stop at the problem of poor management and illegal operation.
When an explosion occurs in a laboratory, the relevant departments will first think that it is the superficial cause of poor management and illegal operations, but it is actually far more than that. Deeper causes of accidents, such as safety management systems, may have been laid, waiting for the operator to ignite. Little excavation and analysis of the causes of accidents will be of no benefit to the entire academic community to prevent laboratory accidents in the future.
In January 2010, an explosion occurred in a laboratory at Texas Tech University in the United States, and the graduate student who operated it lost three fingers on his left hand. After the incident, the United States CSB(Chemical Safety Investigation Board) conducted a detailed investigation and in-depth analysis for more than a year, from the physical danger of explosive nickel hydrazine perchlorate to operating procedures, from the tracking record of the attempted accident to the laboratory safety management system, from compliance with OSHA regulations and standards to the organizational structure of the university. The reason for this is that the investigation report should not only focus on the Texas Tech accident, but also learn from the safety management of all chemical laboratories in the United States.
Only from the perspective of laboratory safety management, CSB points out that there are three deficiencies: first, only the health hazards of employees are managed, and the physical hazards of chemicals are not managed enough; Second, there is no good lesson summary of the attempted events that occurred before; Third, the organization lacks safety responsibility and effective supervision.
Inadequate management of the physical hazards of chemicals is reflected in the Chemical Hygiene Plan (CHP) developed by the laboratory, the lack of measurement and risk assessment of physical hazards, the lack of operational standards and written authorization procedures, and the focus of personal protective equipment on health hazards rather than preventing flammable and explosive risks. Secondly, the laboratory did not track, analyze and record all the attempted incidents, and improve the safety system accordingly. At the management level of the organization, the CSB recommends that EH&S(Occupational Safety, Health and Environment) managers report directly to the Vice President in charge of research, rather than the former Vice President for Administration, as this would hinder the development of research safety. The school should pay full attention to the safety recommendations of EH&S management and act on them, not just the individual decisions of a laboratory leader.
It could be argued that the CSB report focused on the deficiencies in the management systems exposed by the Texas Tech lab explosion, rather than a single operational cause or the dangers of the chemicals. For this reason, the CSB calls on American universities to develop better documentation and communication measures for safe laboratory operations, and to assess the multifaceted risks of chemical laboratories under the guidance of relevant institutions.
Therefore, the mine laboratory explosion accident is a good opportunity to deeply analyze the safety management of the entire university laboratory in our country, and we can not stop at the problem of poor management and illegal operation.