Lab safety to be revised

UCLA officials are revising lab safety protocols as well as the overall safety of the laboratories in response to a laboratory accident which left a research assistant severely burned,

On Dec. 29, a 22-year-old staff research assistant suffered second- and third-degree burns over 40 percent of her body. These burns were sustained while working with t-butyl lithium, a highly flammable pyrophoric chemical, according to Daily Bruin archives.

“This is the most serious accident we’ve had in the last several years,” said James Gibson, director of UCLA Environment, Health and Safety.

As a result of this incident, laboratory safety procedures are being scrutinized.

Officials are currently inspecting the Molecular Science Building labs in which the incident occurred, Gibson said.

“We are conducting top to bottom inspection of the labs,” Gibson added.

All chemistry labs will be inspected this month and inspection of the rest of the labs will occur later on. Through inspection of the labs, Gibson said he hopes to examine key safety features, such as the emergency shower and eye wash station.

Inspectors also plan to identify the most critical laboratory safety violations, including incorrect usage of personal protection items, such as lab coats and goggles.

After determining these violations, Gibson said he plans to make immediate corrections.

These corrections could include retraining students in the safe usage of a fire extinguisher, in addition to good housekeeping procedures in the lab, said Bill Peck, manager of Occupational Safety and Employee Health.

In addition to a revision of safety protocols, officials are in the process of transitioning from a paper-based inspection system to an electronic one, to better facilitate communication, Gibson said.

At the same time, a task force is being established to determine how to create and maintain safer labs. “We just started (the task force),” Peck said. “We expect to have some results by the end of the week.”

Only a week before the incident, another laboratory accident occurred in which there was a small chemical explosion. Much like the Dec. 29 incident, this mishap also occurred in the Molecular Sciences Building.

But this resulted in only minor cuts and abrasions for the researcher, unlike the research assistant who was burned one week later.

While using a syringe to extract t-butyl lithium, the stopper came undone and the chemical splashed on the clothes of the research assistant, igniting them when the chemical came into contact with air, Gibson said.

After a colleague put out the fire, the victim was rushed to the UCLA Medical Center, where she was treated for her burns.

There were no eyewitnesses to the incident, and the victim continues to be treated at the Grossman Burn Center in Sherman Oaks, according to UCLA Today and Daily Bruin archives.

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