UCLA fined for failing to report 2007 lab fire to Cal/OSHA

On Nov. 13, 2007, a graduate student researcher incurred first- and second-degree burns after ethanol that splashed onto his clothes and hands was lit on fire by a Bunsen burner.

One week ago, UCLA was fined $23,900 by the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health for failing to report the incident.

Currently, UCLA is appealing the fines issued for the incident as well as additional fines related to overall campus lab safety programs.

Cal/OSHA discovered UCLA’s failure to report the incident in September when an investigator was reviewing university records.

Although the university reported the incident internally to UCLA’s Office of Environment, Health and Safety and to Compensation and Employment Services, officials are not sure why it was never reported to Cal/OSHA and are currently investigating the situation, said Kevin Reed, vice chancellor for legal affairs at UCLA.

“The individuals responsible for making the report do not work here anymore, and we believe we have policies in place that will prevent any nonreporting from happening in the future,” Reed said.

Cal/OSHA fined UCLA for failing to report the serious accident within eight hours, as well as for the more serious citations of failing to “implement procedures to correct unsafe working conditions” and “failing to wear appropriate clothing (e.g., fire resistant clothing or lab coat),” according to a Cal/OSHA report.

This earlier incident takes on greater significance in light of a similar laboratory accident that occurred approximately one year later.

Sheharbano Sangji, a 23-year-old staff research assistant, died on Jan. 16, 2009 after suffering second- and third-degree burns from a Dec. 29, 2008 chemical fire, according to Bruin archives.

In both the 2007 and the 2008 accidents, the lack of protective clothing was cited as the reason for injury, according to reports. However, Reed said the two accidents should not be linked.

“The researchers in each instance were supposed to have worn lab coats,” he said. “They were issued lab coats, and it’s unfortunate that they were not wearing (them).”

Though the incidents were similar in nature, the November 2007 accident did not contribute to the fatal accident the following year, Reed said.

The university has made continual changes to lab safety protocol since 1997, Reed said, although he did not cite specific changes that were made after the 2007 accident.

In May, UCLA was fined $31,875 by Cal/OSHA for the 2008 accident and was issued critiques of campus laboratory safety. In response, UCLA formed a campus-wide Laboratory Safety Committee following the 2008 accident that provided recommendations to the chancellor in July 2009.

Despite UCLA’s commitment to reform laboratory practices after the 2008 accident, Cal/OSHA fined UCLA an additional $67,720 in February for alleged violations that have occurred since the death, according to a Cal/OSHA report.

The review of UCLA’s lab safety by the agency on Aug. 25, 2009 indicated that adequate training and protective clothing had not been implemented, among other citations.

UCLA is contesting the most recent citations, stating that extensive enhancements to laboratory practices have been made since the 2008 accident, according to a university statement.

Such reforms include the revamping of training, creating a hazardous assessment tool and issuing protective lab coats, according to Reed.

“We believe our actions have strongly demonstrated a campus-wide commitment to enhancing lab safety programs so that they can serve as a model for all research universities,” Reed said, according to a UCLA Newsroom release.

The university is appealing the fines for the 2007 accident on the grounds that the conditions that allowed for the accident to occur in 2007 are no longer present.

“Cal/OSHA has taken a position in the last six months of citing us for things we believe that we have fixed a long time ago, and the 2007 incident is a perfect example of that,” Reed said. “We think that Cal/OSHA should be working with us to make sure that we are making our labs as safe as possible, as opposed to turning around and playing “˜gotcha’ over circumstances that took place over two years ago.”

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