[Che-student-staff-list] Safety incidents in FRNY

[Nagy, Gabriela]

Hello Everyone,

I would like to share with you two recent safety incidents in our School:


1.       May 21, 2014: When a small amount of dry Pd/C was added to a flask containing methanol, a small flame was observed near the neck of the flask. The flame was instantaneous and disappeared quickly. No people were injured during this incident.
To avoid this happening in the future, the procedure of mixing catalyst (Pd/C) with alcohol was modified to be performed under inert atmosphere. This measure was taken after identifying that the catalyst is most susceptible to rapidly ignite the vapors of lower alcohols  (such as methanol). In the presence of air, many organic vapors that readily ignite can undergo combustion violently, but having the above procedure performed in inert atmosphere eliminates this hazard.


2.       June 2, 2014: When taking the glassware out of the sink after washing, a piece of glassware dropped on the floor and broke. A fragment of broken glass bounced back and cut the researcher's hand. The lacerations to the hand caused by the broken glass were treated in the emergency room. The patient was discarded shortly after his wounds were cleaned and no further medical attention was needed.

I hope that sharing this information with you will prevent similar situations occur in our labs.

Sincerely,
Gabriela
On behalf of the ChE Safety Committee

________
Gabriela Nagy, PhD
Industrial Education Director
ChE Safety Committee Chair
School of Chemical Engineering
Room FRNY G051
Purdue University
Tel: (765)-496-1710
E-mail: nagyg at purdue.edu<mailto:nagyg at purdue.edu>


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