I’d like for you to watch a safety video from the US Chemical Safety Board detailing 3 laboratory accidents in academic research labs.  The first accident details the fire at the UCLA lab that resulted in the death of a staff member.  The second details the death of a research PI from an accidental poisoning.  The third details a serious injury of a graduate student working with pyrophoric materials. 

“Experimenting with Danger” http://www.csb.gov/videos/ on page 3.

The US CSB indicates several deficiencies associated with each accident, including written safety protocols, proper PPE selection and availability, as well as documented safety training for the specific materials.

In  this discussion board, I’d like for you to indicate the one deficiency you feel could have prevented each (1, 2, and 3) accident.  This may be the same for each situation, or this could be different for each.  You may agree with the 3 indicated by the US CSB, or you may feel some other safety measure could have prevented each accident. 

I’d also like for you to indicate if the PI for the labs in case study 1 (UCLA) and 3 (Texas Tech) should be held legally liable and why.

In order to receive credit for this assignment:

1. Post your opinion on the safety measure as indicated above.

2. Indicate your opinion on liability.