[Che-student-staff-list] Recent safety incidents in FRNY

[Nagy, Gabriela]

Hello Everyone,

In October 2014 we had two reported safety  incidents in FRNY. No medical attention was necessary, as no one was injured.


1.       October 6, 2014: This incident involved a researcher who attempted to transport a full LN2 tank from the Physics LN2 facility to FRNY, using a defective LN2 cart with known recurring flat tires problem. Even though when the cart was held in upright position the tires seemed to have the required pressure for proper functioning, as soon as the cart was tipped over for transportation, the tires began to vent violently on a bystander. The cart began to tip over due to loss in the cart's tire pressure. The cart was brought and held in upright position until a group member arrived to help.
Action taken: the defective cart was decommissioned until fully repaired.
Please remember to check any gas cylinder cart or LN2 cart for mechanical integrity before using it.


2.       October 8, 2014: This incident was due to a catastrophic failure of a small centrifuge located in a glove box. While the centrifuge was in use, the rotor (made of plastic) exploded, the centrifuge lid was opened and the rotor parts were ejected into the glove box. There was no damage to the glove box and to the contents of it. After investigating the causes of this incident, the following measures were taken to prevent similar incidents: (i) replace the centrifuge rotor every year (the centrifuge was a few years old and the rotor was never changed); (ii) a new way to keep track of routine maintenance for common pieces of equipment was implemented, (iii) all pieces of common use equipment will be checked and serviced on a regular base.

Please continue to report any safety incident, accident or near miss that you experience or witness. This will help improving our safety culture through valuable safety lessons and will help prevent similar situations from happening in the future.

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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