# Yale Lab accident?



## Lakc (Apr 13, 2011)

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/04/13/yale-student-dies-chemistry-lab-accident

Anyone hear about this? I am sure there is a lesson to be learned there somewhere.


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## Philjoe5 (Apr 13, 2011)

According to this report dated 4/13/2011:

http://www.yaledailynews.com/news/2011/apr/13/student-dies-accident-sterling-chemistry-laborator/

it may have been a case of her long hair caught in the moving part of a lathe

Phil


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## Twmaster (Apr 13, 2011)

Tragic. However this is a reminder to be ever vigilant when it comes to safety in the workshop.


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## hitnmiss49 (Apr 13, 2011)

So sad. A terrible accident takes this young girls life just one month before her graduation from Yale. My thoughts and prayers are with her family.
Accidents can happen in the blink of an eye so we must constantly be aware of our surroundings.
Lonnie


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## Tin Falcon (Apr 13, 2011)

Sounds like she was working alone and that policy will no longer allow it. 
I worked at a Yacht manufacturer years ago they had liberal shop privileges especially for the managers. .
My boss painted his VW bug at the shop on weekends. this was allowed but he had to have a companion the companion could not use or operate tools but there were there to call 911 in case of trouble. IMHO the lab could do well to adapt such a policy. Such a policy may have saved a life. There are dangerous pastimes that a buddy system is the only way to go.

Sounds like the culprit was loose clothing while operating a wood lathe. 


> An autopsy conducted at the Connecticut Office of Chief Medical Examiner in Farmington Wednesday afternoon determined that Dufault died from an accidental "asphyxia due to kneck compression," OCME Investigator Kathy Wilson said.


Tin


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## rake60 (Apr 13, 2011)

I just saw this on the news myself.

It is so frustrating to see these things.
Life can change or end with a slight lapse of concentration or a minor safety rule being broken.

It is just very frustrating for me...

Rick


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## Tin Falcon (Apr 13, 2011)

> Life can change or end with a slight lapse of concentration or a minor safety rule being broken.


So true Rick
Last Sunday my wife and I went to the movies to watch Soul Surfer. It is the story of Bethany Hamilton. She is now a professional surfer and I a think a bit of a motivational speaker. She lost her left arm as a result of a shark attack at the age of 13. She could have easily lost here life as she did lose 60% of her blood. The quick action of her best friends father apparently saved her life. 

Movie link
http://www.soulsurferthemovie.com/

Bethany's web page
http://bethanyhamilton.com/
Tin


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## b.lindsey (Apr 13, 2011)

As a lab manager with responsibility for the machine shop, this is a nightmare i hope to never experience on my watch. I spent much of last summer writing safety analysis sheets for every piece of shop equipment in my areas, machine shop and otherwise. I preach the perils of loose clothing, long hair, earbuds, etc in the first lecture of the machine shop practices course and have in fact ejected both men and women from the lab for loose clothing which college kids are prone to wear at times. After hearing this today I am revisiting the lab safety analysis sheets for each piece of rotating equipment in our shop. What a waste of a bright young life and I feel such sympathy for her family and friends, but also for the lab manager who must live with this from now on. 

Bill


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## Tin Falcon (Apr 13, 2011)

when I was in USAF tech school we had a ritual at the beginning of every lab session. This ritual was repeated every morning, after morning break, after lunch break ,and after afternoon break. we would prepare to " cross the Line" into the lab/ shop. sleeves were rolled up safety glasses were put on and the safety rules for that lab were read by a student. No one crossed the line until this was done. At the time this seemed a bit repetitive. But now years later it does not seem as silly. 
Tin


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## b.lindsey (Apr 13, 2011)

Right on Tin...its just a shame that it takes something like this to jolt us from the "silly" to the "it really does matter 24/7" mindset. Complacency or momentary inattention are ever present dangers.

Bill


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## Twmaster (Apr 14, 2011)

My uncle is a retied machinist. He used to work at Bethlehem Steel making ship parts. They did not have tiny machines.... A 13x48 lathe is tiny to these guys....

One day at work his coat sleeve got grabbed by a workpiece in a lathe. Hearing the description of the event from a mutual friend scared the begeebus out of me.

The machine grabbed my uncle by the sleeve, threw him up and over the machine and then pulled his coat off almost tearing his arm off. He landed like a sack of potatoes in a heap. 

His arm was pulled out of the shoulder socket. HE spend weeks in the hospital and was 8 months in recuperation. Truly lucky to not get killed.

When I am in my workshop I try to be mindful of the hurt one can get in. I remember my uncle getting tossed around like a doll. 

Now I'll sadly remember this gal getting killed.

Sad stuff.


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## JorgensenSteam (Apr 14, 2011)

As I understand it, she was working alone with a sizable lathe, and apparently not being too careful with the long hair.

Some of the comments on the articles I read stated that this was totally preventable, and that no student should ever be working on that powerful of a machine alone and unsupervised. I tend to agree. A competent and trained supervisor would not let someone use a machine with their hair or clothing hanging down where it could get caught.

As I read it, had someone been there to turn off the machine, she would have lived, since she actually suffocated, which takes a long time.

Very sad situation. Hard to believe the school allowed such a thing.
All labs should be staffed at all times by an experienced teacher.
There is not excuse for this.

Edit: I had access to all of the labs at school, and they all contained large and dangerous equipment, from hydraulic presses, pumps, lathes, powered woodworking equipment, electrical gear and motors, etc. Never once did I find a lab door unlocked when lab was not in session. During lab sessions, a qualified lab instructor was in the room and aware of what was going on with the machines at all times.

I remember well the rule in the labs, that if you turned on a machine without the lab instructor first checking the setup, it was an automatic "F", and you were immediately expelled from lab for the semester. At the time, I thought the rule was a bit harsh, but now I understand.

There is no room for error with equipment like this, and we never had a problem.


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## kherseth (Apr 14, 2011)

I can easily imagine such a tragedy happening on the university where i studied. First of, there is alot of mo***ns thinking they know everything and lacking respect for machinery. Second, the lab personal was very "kind". I remember once i was asking their help for turning a propeller clock on the big lathe, they told me that i was free to do it myself, although none of them knew me more than that they recognize me. I had never in my life touched a lathe before and was given free access to a pretty large machine. I told them the truth about my lack of experience, and they agreed to teach me. Never got to the teaching part, quit school some weeks after.

Tragic accident, as a freshman it really makes me think twice when working on machines, too bad it takes one serious event before one really understand how dangerous this hobby really is.


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## rake60 (Apr 15, 2011)

kherseth

This *IS* a potentially dangerous hobby.

It doesn't have to be!

Before every move, we need to think of what could go wrong and what can we
do to make it a safer operation.

Trouble is, the better we get at it, the less we think about it.

We develop an attitude of,
*"That sucks but it only happens to amateurs".*

After 20 years of working on the shop floor, I've seen mayhem you wouldn't
you wouldn't expect to see outside of a live fire combat zone.

The vast majority of those incidents did not involve newbies.
They were the "Old Salts" who knew the machines and processes by heart.

Complacency is the greatest hazard in the machining hobby and industry.

It's like owning a motorcycle.
The day you are sure you've mastered it, *SELL IT!!!!!!*

Rick


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## Babba (Apr 16, 2011)

Everyone told me to get my hair cut, I didn't listen . . . . 

I knelt down to look along the axis & the end of my pony tail got caught in the slow speed, power feed.

Lathes & long hair DO NOT mix well.


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## Tin Falcon (Apr 16, 2011)

Safety is a mind set. I have tried to teach my son from the time he was little"Think about what you are about to do" What can go wrong? what are the consequences if it does? What can you do to make it safer ? 

This brought up a question what is the attitude here on safety. So some statistics. 
First of all there are currently 4820 members on the board. 
1330 looks on the here's the rules(forum rules) Obvious complacency about forum rules. 
4702 looks on the Safety rules thread. not to bad
as a comparison 8443 looks on the Getting started in model engineering thread. That shows interest. 

be safe guys there is no one but you to be responsible for safety in your own shop. 
Tin


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