Death in the Lab

[@mkim16]

It is terrible that Sheri died the way that she did, but I don't think we should send Dr. Harran to prison. As a chemist who worked in the lab, you become aware of which chemicals are extremely dangerous by talking with senior members of the group. The prof is busy with administrative things, teaching, community service, all the other academic BS. Plus, t-Butyllithium isn't your average, every day chemical AND you don't use flimsy, plastic syringes for flammable materials! You also get safety training when you enter a lab - maybe not for specialty chemicals like t-BuLi, but if you got safety training for every type of chemical then you'd never have time to work in the lab. This was a tragic accident! She chose to work during Christmas break, alone, and to use dangerous chemicals in an improper way without supervision. Her death is not in vain. It should be a wake up call to everyone that they need to be more careful/vigilant with safety. But don't scapegoat a professor because you need someone else to blame!

[@niyablake]

Um no. SHe was never trained on use of PPE

[@RepublikSivizien]

actually, t-BuLi is a every day chemical at least for my synthesises and we use plastic syringes. But of course, if you handle this stuff, you know its danger, how to handle it properly and what to do if some thing goes wrong. Even if you do not have proper training in handling it, but already some degree in chemistry, you should at least know, that lithium-organic substances should handle with care and supervised by someone experienced. Anyway, how did she burned herself so massively just by one syrringe, handled in a fume hood? Seems to me that there were more things wrong.

[@camilles4441]

from what I have seen/read, the chemical came into contact with the air and instantly ignited when the syringe broke (flimsy syringe most likely, they are just cheaply made plastic) and then her flammable synthetic jumper caught fire as well as another chemical she was using in the fume hood. So it wasn't just a tiny spark in a fume hood it was an explosion essentially. And just because its a tiny syringe doesn't mean the fire/explosion wouldnt be huge, it all depends on the chemical you are using and how flammable it is. She should have been wearing a lab coat, but even so that wouldnt have prevented the accident. I think there are several mistake made by not only the worker, but also the university. If you are going to run a laboratory then you have to have strict policies for people working with dangerous chemicals and substances and give staff updated safety training every year. Just because you receive safety training once at the start of your degree or job doesn't mean you are suitably trained for your entire life.

[@winnyderpooh]

The deciding mistake propably was using a syringe with maximum capacity of 60ml when taking in 54ml of t-BuLi. Which will never just be 54ml of pure t-BuLi, but you will draw some inert gas into it as well, you need to pull out the plunger to create a vacuum to even get the t-BuLi to flow in, and so on. So when getting close to the maximum syringe volume, which was definitely the case here, it can be quite easy to dislocate the plunger, which means not just that the liquid flows out at the end towards you, but is even spitted out towards you since you are taking it from an inert gas pressurized bottle. If you wear synthetic fiber clothes, it will not just burn but start melting on your skin also while burning. If you work alone, there is noone to help you out, and most likely there is a lot of panicking involved as such things happen unexpectedly and quickly. That the hands were burned so severely, is propably because she was trying to put out the fire instinctively by throbbing against it. Such things can happen even to experienced professionals, this is not a "poor, clueless amateur wasn't told what to do and that's why she died in an otherwise perfectly safe space" scenario, this is simply what happens when you do small human errors in a situation that doesn't has much tolerance for mistakes. This is the danger of working in the chemical field, with substances that can kill you, except you manage to allways be one step ahead. Sheri would propably still live if she had for example planned the reaction only on a 50% scale, therefor never getting close to pulling the plunger out of the syringe. Or if she had used a bigger syringe, with same effect. Or used a double-ended needle instead of a syringe, which I also just learned today is recommended for anything pyrophoric beyond 10ml anyway, and so on. All these things seem oh so obvious once you analyze the accident after(!) it happened, which leads to people asking why noone was there foreseeing how things would unfold, and telling that to Sheri beforehand so all this wouldn't have happened. It seems like a very helpless reaction to me, just as helpless as the guy asking why there was no "general lab safety training", in which, just as everyone who ever received one would know, you learn a lot of basic stuff, but never on earth you learn about how to handle t-BuLi in all the necessary details, with this specific equipment, on this specific scale, and so on. -_- Most of the safety precautions we take in chemistry are meant to limit the damage of such moments of unhandiness that propably happen to all of us, some day, some time. But the idea of being able to avoid such things 100% if you just do enough "instruction" and "training", is clearly a bureaucratic view. First of all, even when hearing about something in theory, when doing it in the lab you can still do something wrong. Secondly, you can not allways have someone teaching and guiding you about every detail, about every substance you work with at any given day. To expect this, means asking the impossible, means trying to find a scapegoat. We need to learn from such accidents and improve our safety precautions, not find someone to blame it on. Needless to say, instructions in this scenario will only matter anyway, as long as they are written down on paper in a waterproof way, in a way that the bureaucrats can check and tick off on their lists. A coworker being there to say "nah, use a bigger syringe for that much t-BuLi!", that would have been what would have saved her, that would have made the deciding impact. Not the 10.000th annual course in "general lab safety".

[@Seorful]

@@niyablake I dont know how it is handled in the us but at german universities you are the one responsible for working safe. If you are not trained to work with a chemical you dont work with it, if you need to work with it you are searching yourself a source to teach you how to do it safley.

[@MrRapidPotato]

"No safer place to work in the world" - Have you ever seen the inside operation of an organic chemistry laboratory. If you don't understand the full danger and safety procedures of the experiment you are conducting you should not be allowed in the lab. End of. Scapegoat at best.

[@WaffleStaffel]

That quote stood out to me too. The reason there are walls lined with rows of fume hoods is because of the frequent and routine handling of materials hazardous to the health and life of those working there. It's not a widget workshop. You can't blame the syringe, everyone's had the plunger pop out at some point, always the result of a moment of carelessness. Like most horrible accidents it was the culmination of a multitude of bad had habits, bad practices, bad policies, and bad luck.

[@winnyderpooh]

@@WaffleStaffel I am watching this video today, after handleing BuLi for the first time in my life, accidentally spilling a few drops of it into the fume hood when probeing my reaction, after having the plunger of a syringe loose up a bit before that because I pulled a bit too furiously over the solvent bottle, after surely NOT having a series of dedicated, detailled training courses on handleing BuLi, before actually getting to work with it. I can relate to Sheri getting herself into this situation, as a result of small mistakes adding up. She wasn't clueless or taking risks too easily, and the sort of "general lab safety courses" that people go off about, certainly wouldn't have prevented this, either. She died despite her profound chemistry knowledge, despite surely working carefully and to the best of her abilities. That is what I really draw from it, that we can never be carefull enough, that we can never stop learning, or we might be the next ones that get into an accident of that sort, and afterwards you have bureaucrats coming along with their "safety course" checklists to try and find someone to blame. This sort of mindset that allways there must be someone to point the finger on, annoys me in so many ways.

[@VonMilash]

every organic chemist in the world knows the dangers of tBuLi. she should have been in a glove box.

[@maxsteiner8268]

Thats a fools statement. There are hundreds of compounds in a lab like that. Are you telling me you know the reactiveness of each one by heart? She was only 23 idiot.

[@vonmilash823]

@@maxsteiner8268 you have no idea what you're talking about. None. Zero.

[@cl8034]

@@maxsteiner8268 if you work in such a place you must indeed know that. Organic chemists are used to learning things by heart. All chemists in general know how dangerous it is. Just looking at its formula: C4H9Li gives one an idea of how dangerous it is.

[@jayashrianand4194]

@@cl8034Bruh a colection of letters don't look intimidating. Tertiary butyl lithium is just dangerously explosive that's it.

[@strugglingcollegestudent]

She should never be working alone with T-butyl or any other dangerous chemicals

[@samuelkailemmen4927]

pulling out the plunger on a syringe is extremely hard. organometalic reagants in general should be treated with the utmost respect. the professor is not to blame.

[@Sythorize]

Samuel Kai Lemmen she most definitely was squirting it into the air when the plastic caught fire and the resulting liquid exploded on her. Her fault for sure.

[@lobo5734]

Her fault. She didn’t have a bubbler/Firestone to maintain atmospheric pressure. The pressure aided the plunger push and dispensing the BuLi

[@THEGHOSTSLAVE]

So...she went to college for chemistry..obtained a job in a chemistry field...was obviously good in that field...and didn't know what safety precautions SHE should have taken to handle Tert-Butyllithium? Sounds like an over-dramatized case of walking under a loaded forklift to me -.-

[@maxsteiner8268]

Wow such an arrogant response to the death of a woman just beginning her life. Perhaps if this had happened to a family member or friend you would be more sympathetic? Or are they all as perfect as you ?

[@hbsupermage]

clearly not very good at her field

[@klipk7296]

@@maxsteiner8268 boi stop finger wagging, this is the internet

[@Hello_Friends]

professor is a good man.thats why he answered truth...he is not a liar

[@maxsteiner8268]

A good man would never have let personnel in his lab have access to materials like this with zero training. He had no business running even a high school lab.

[@Hello_Friends]

@@maxsteiner8268 This is truth but sometimes students try to be more clever....

[@SB-fr6pl]

She hasn't prepared herself for the task. Otherwise she would have known better. She destroyed the life of the professor, not the way around!

[@maxsteiner8268]

Wow such an arrogant response to the death of a woman just beginning her life. Perhaps if this had happened to a family member or friend you would be more sympathetic? Or are they all as perfect as you ?

[@topkekfilmproductions3464]

Yeah what a dumass

[@Ciaran55]

if she didn't know what the chemical was, she shouldn't have touched it in the first place. Surely a chemist would know that. that professor is just a scapegoat here, because they want to blame somebody. it's up to the university too, to make sure everyone is qualified and safety measures are taken. not just one guy. still, a pretty horrible way to go!

[@maxsteiner8268]

What were they thinking letting personnel have access to such a volatile compound with zero warning or protection. You sound like you have zero experience in a lab setting or even a work place one at that.

[@Ciaran55]

@@maxsteiner8268 bold assumption to make (especially after 5 years), I've been in a lab plenty of times... though looking back you are right on the mark regarding protection, it's ridiculous that there wasn't even any protection available. The question is whether this is down to the faculty or the professor himself. Good day

[@Naturalmedicineprescription]

She's spent years working in this type environment , ridiculous trying to fry the Prof as a scape goat :/

[@maxsteiner8268]

That's a fools statement. You could have decades of experience. But if you are not trained specifically to handle something like tert-butyllithium, this is what happens. A pyrophoric material like this requires also requires serious ppe and layers of engineering controls. None of the above were present in this lab. They deserve everything that's coming to them.

[@VonMilash]

from what I read the girl wasn't even wearing a lab coat.

[@1978garfield]

No lab coat and was wearing a synthetic top that melted and fused to her skin.

[@1989Chrisc]

He was ordered to pay a donation to a local burns centre and do community service. No time spent in jail. Still harsh in my opinion but better than being sent to prison

[@maxsteiner8268]

He's also been banned from even teaching high school cooking classes Ive heard. He had no business running a lab of this type in the first place.

[@Seorful]

@@maxsteiner8268 He is not responsible

[@litsadimitropoulos5473]

@@maxsteiner8268 He still has a lab and teaches at UCLA.

[@mattattack28]

It's not the professor's fault. t-Bu Lithium isn't exactly your everyday chemical... someone forgot to put it back, that's it. If she was working with the chemical in the first place, she should know the dangers. That info is readily available online, in detail. Any 23 year-old working in a university lab should know how dangerous chemicals can potentially be.

[@philipswain961]

I worked with organometallic reagents They are not to be trifled with. Any chemist understands that safety is their own responsibilty. One should ALWAYS know how to handle reagents safely. While Prof Harran bears some responsibility, the real responsibility rests with the researcher.

[@joaovictorpalmeida]

Wasn't she graduated? If her sister is going to blame someone she should blame the whole university, not the professor...

[@hernandez2489]

This is ridiculous. I don't like when people talk about "making an example out of..." She was a professional in her field, she wasn't an idiot. It was a terrible accident.

[@maxsteiner8268]

She was 23 idiot.

[@Seorful]

@@maxsteiner8268 And? She was a professional. She had a degree in chemistry and mutliple years of experience.

[@myNameIsEmanon]

My heart goes out to Sheri's family yet I also feel terrible for Dr. Harren. I can understand where he should have made sure Sheri fully understood the dangers of working with alklylithium derivatives. t-buytllithium is an extremely reactive compound when in the presence of ANY proton "donor". Reactants of a basicity to that degree will turn just about any hydrogen containing compound into a proton donor. Chemical bonds being formed at that rate give off a considerable amount of heat. She would have had to been thrown into a pool of ether to quench the reaction. Water would not have saved her. As a researcher, Sheri knew this as well. The topic of alkyllithium is covered in the second year of undergraduate chemistry. All in all it was a horrific tragedy. This is an extreme case showing the dangers chemist face every second in lab. Shockingly, the majority of the chemicals in any lab across the country can bring upon an agonizing, certain death. It was accident, and could have happened if he was standing with her. He should not be facing murder.

[@TheExoto]

the real danger is that t-BuLi burns spontaneously when exposing to air.

[@rapier789]

I have a Chemistry BS, and even in organic chemistry parts one and two we did not cover air sensitive molecules that were pyrophoric. Alkyl lithium is an organometallic compound that is not discussed fully in General Chemistry, this is understood in Organic Chemistry and Inorganic Chemistry Reactivity classes. C-H bonds are highly unreactive when they stand alone, but when exposed to fire, other reactive radicals, or an early transition metal (Al, Zn, Hg, Li) these will cause them to react and the bonds to break because now these ligands are highly nucleophilic; not only that they're very air and water sensitive and will ignite in a blink (Sherri's death).. The reason I came across this case is because I am currently in my graduate program for a Chemistry MS (Biochemistry/Medicinal) taking a high level Organometallic Chemistry class. Yes, she should have been more safe. But, this professor should have trained her on how to properly extract the metal alkyl. This is so dangerous and air/water sensitive you need an inert environment of nitrogen or argon gas, and an aprotic solvent to guide the out the compound. This professor has been an organic chemist for over 15 years he should have know this!! He should have gotten funding for a nitrogen chamber. You cannot do this reaction in a regular hood because there is constant air flow, no possible way this could have been prevented. She needed a fire lab coat first off all, that special chamber of an inert environment and constant briefs and preparation by her professor lead. Sherri should have a had on a coat no doubt, but the correct coat as well. Also, she seemed confident that she knew what she was doing, but that was false the professor should have properly trained her in handling pyrophoric reagents, period!! It was not just a case of lab safety, it was a case of malpractice!

[@strugglingcollegestudent]

@@rapier789well I’m an undergrad (junior) Chem major and we most definitely did learn about the organometallic reagents in ochem II

[@JayQBBMe]

As a fellow organic chemist, I agree. It's not the professor's job to brief every one of his students on the safety hazards of every one of several hundreds of chemicals in his or her lab. The professor has way more important things to do, like writing grant proposals and teaching classes. If she wasn't aware of the specific dangers of t-BuLi, then she should've looked up the MSDS and either worked in the glovebox or waited for someone to help her. It's a tragedy, but she was just careless...

[@winnyderpooh]

The problem is, and we both know that well, is that a MSDS will only give you a first impression on what to look out for, but never really a detailled walkthrough on how to handle a substance safely under the given circumstances (reaction scale, equipment, and so on). This woman would have needed an experienced co-worker standing with her, telling her to take a bigger syringe for this big amount of BuLi, to transfer it directly using a double-ended needle, or for gods sake to use a fire extinguisher on her when she allready got set on fire. Like let's imagine she somehow wouldn't have panicked, she would somehow have known exactly what to do, did someone ever try to use a fire extinguisher against themselves, while on fire? I have heard of another fatal burning case before, where someone on fire literally ran past the saving shower above the lab entrance in panic, wandering around aimlessly, until the flames went out on their own. I guess on top of being super carefull, we can all just hope for some super-human capabilities to save ourselves, when despite all precautions something nasty still happens. A suitable training would propably include such stuff as getting peppersprayed by surprise, and then having to find a water source without any sort of additional help within like 10 seconds. I think that would be "eye-opening" for most of us, ironically. ;)

[@maxsteiner8268]

Youre kidding me right? Can you please tell what's more important than lab safety? I bet if it was your kid in that lab that burned to death only to find out there was zero training and zero warning you'd be screaming bloody murder.

[@Seorful]

@@maxsteiner8268 There was training and what warning do you need more than the warning symbols on the flask and the msds available in every lab?

[@moldovanhoratiu8333]

Pulling out the plunger when handling t-BuLi is just plain stupid... as a chemist she couldn't have been unaware of the dangers. I've done plenty of stupid things like being severely intoxicated a couple of times and have the lab evacuated because I was playing around with volatile poisons, but I never blamed someone else for the stuff I am responsible of and had alot to learn from. The professor is absolutely NOT TO BLAME; as I consider that no chemist is stupid enough to do this by accident or at least shouldn't be... In the chemistry lab stupidity can have a death penalty, she should have worked with jelly beads or other safe to eat chemicals! The main problem with stupid people is that they tend to think they're smart.

[@sher40pal]

Do you know how difficult it is to pull the plunger out of a syringe? I dont believe that was an accident at all, and if that is the case how was that even possible? The only way I can see that happening is if she was trying to fit more in the syringe than it should have then pulled it back too far.

[@lardtaziumwadmaster]

sher pal We have these glass syringes that are super easy to take apart. The plunger just falls out by itself. It depends on what kind of equipment she was using.

[@sher40pal]

Considering what the syringe was being used for I believe it would have been a pretty sturdy one, they need it to be as airtight as possible. Once the syringe was filled with the max amount of liquid there would not have been enough air to easily decrease the suction of the vacuum like environment inside the syringe, making it even more difficult to pull apart. However you are definitely correct, it does depend on the type a syringe used.

[@lardtaziumwadmaster]

sher pal Either way though, we can agree this happened because she wasn't paying attention, or wasn't trained properly, right? Like the syringe didn't explode in her hand and set her on fire.

[@moldovanhoratiu8333]

+Moldovan Horatiu The only thing that could have been more stupid than this is deliberately injecting aqueous HCl straight in to the bottle... hehe

[@wanhl2440]

This is absolutly a terrible tragedy. R.I.P.

[@ricktotheroll]

i think its the dead persons fault. the teacher had no intentions of harming anyone. she is not a child. while i do believe that it was wrong for him to have few saftey precautions, he shouldnt be put at fault

[@maxsteiner8268]

Wow such an arrogant response to the death of a woman just beginning her life. Perhaps if this had happened to a family member or friend you would be more sympathetic? Or are they all as perfect as you ?

[@Seorful]

@@maxsteiner8268 Are you just copy pasting the same comment?

[@lingling2823]

This is disgusting... I mean it’s awful that someone died because of a dumb mistake but putting the blame on the professor is just completely unreasonable. Its not his fault for her not knowing her chemicals

[@Chillbot17]

God damn, the gravity of how powerful certain chemicals can be finally hit me today. Though I must ask, wouldn't there be some specialized syringe for transferring such volatile materials to prevent accidental reactions?

[@Seorful]

Normal plastic syringes are normaly good enough if handled carfully. Its something chemist focusing on synthesis are doing regulary.

[@GetThePun]

i dont think the professor was really that at fault (maybe just a little)... i mean if u no ur not train to handle something dangerous, and u get hurt, it's hardly the professors fault...

[@JayQBBMe]

You, Sir, are correct. I'm only an undergraduate, and I've used t-BuLi at least seven times and survived every one of 'em. And I certainly didn't need my professor to tell me to familiarize myself with the hazards beforehand.

[@maxsteiner8268]

Wow such an arrogant response to the death of a woman just beginning her life. Perhaps if this had happened to a family member or friend you would be more sympathetic? Or are they all as perfect as you ?

[@Seorful]

@@maxsteiner8268 What he wants to say: If you are handling chemicals you are responsible for knowing the hazards. Said woman was the victim of an accident she herself is responsible for. Blaming the professor is ridiculous.

[@macabee7]

@@maxsteiner8268 copy and paste reply lmao

[@VonMilash]

I used diethyl zinc one time. flamed as soon as i pulled it out of the bottle. next time i used it was in a glove box.

[@zw9632]

Just today(18/12/2015) a postdoc in Tsinghua University dead in laboratory fire (or maybe explosion) caused by the this material.

[@mattattack28]

oh my god, now I find out she had a chemistry degree from Pamona! come on... she should have known better, seriously...

[@defkewillms1165]

What about looking into the safety hazards ??

[@maryhough8041]

So what you're telling me is that she graduated with a bachelor's in chemistry and didn't know the basics of lab safety? You learn that in CHM 101 in high school or college? I'm not victim blaming, but I seriously don't see how he could be held accountable for this when the assumption when entering post-grad work as a chemist is that you've understood the bare minimum lab etiquette.

[@brandysigmon9066]

It's $60 Us dollars for 100ml of tert-butyllithium from sigma aldrich. Very dangerous stuff evidently,

[@miceskin]

Well that ruined their reputation indefinitely.

[@spartascapefuntimes]

yea but she didnt know the compelte deatials about the chemical, It's like if a kid was shoting the gun and didnt know how it worked you take the person who gave her the gun to jail not her.

[@jorithi]

When studying chemistry the first thing you learn is to check the safety precautions necessary to handle chemicals. If you already have a degree in chemistry you should be aware of this. A better comparison would be to punish a care salesman because he didn't tell a customer that he isn't allowed to ram people with the new car he bought. Every Organometal compound should raise awareness. Most of them are ether toxic, self igniting or worse.

[@zhanatbham]

To a chemist the danger of tert-but-Li is common sense. Yes even the best skilled ones could make mistakes but not to that horrible extent. This was merely death for stupidity.

[@stopthephilosophicalzombie9017]

zhanatbham One clear problem is that at that young age, people haven't seen the consequences of accidents like this. Also you have varying degrees of physical coordination, and while anecdotal, I've noticed that a lot of smart people are very klutzy. All the more reason to stress safety training and hazard precautions.

[@patrick4220]

+Myanameis Beestingz being a klutz is no excuse for making stupid decisions. She made a stupid decision end of story.

[@JayQBBMe]

We're not talking about a kid, we're talking about a 23-year-old adult who had accumulated enough research experience to be published in scientific journals. And if she didn't know the complete details of the chemical, that would be nobody's fault but her own: Call me insensitive, but the safety hazards of t-Butyllithium, as well as every other hazardous chemical purchased from chemical vendors, are listed in plain English right on the bottle label. A tragedy, of course...but not the profs fault

[@maxsteiner8268]

Hopefully you will experience the same fate during a lapse in judgement. Karma has a way of "coming around".

[@Seorful]

@@maxsteiner8268 And now you are wishing other people a horrible death... Seriously whats wrong with you?

[@finnbright5854]

I truly believe the university is at fault, not the professor. I work with t-butyl lithium when I need a strong base. I would absolutely love a fire resistant lab coat and full face mask.

[@strugglingcollegestudent]

You don’t get one??? I always get one and I’m never worried about my safety cuz I’m not alone

[@strugglingcollegestudent]

She needed to at least look at the SDS. This is a horrific tragedy but the sister is wrong to accuse the proffesor

[@TheKlaun9]

not every lab has a glove box. I'm not saying this should've happened, it's avoidable, but sometimes you have to deal with less than optimal circumstances.

[@MrMicrosoft10]

This is why america is in a recession, we will not own up to the fact that accidents happen, that certain things are not the faults of others and that we have to grow up at some point. She didnt go to work to die? Obviously, but life is the riskiest thing we do! The purpose of life’s journey is not to arrive at the grave with a well-preserved body, but rather to slide in sideways, completely used up, yelling and screaming, what a ride!

[@maxsteiner8268]

The ridiculous comments here are beyond me. It is 100% the responsibility of your employer to fully train you regardless of what your resume says. This professor admitted to not providing an iota of warning of what was in this lab. A highly volatile compound like this one should be isolated in a secured area that only "trained" personnel have access to. They wont even let you near the fryer at McDonalds unless youre QUALIFIED. Hopefully he will never be in the position to make the same mistake again.

[@Seorful]

What are your experience in chemistry?

[@Pwn3dbyth3n00b]

I dont think the professor should be charged at all. If she was working as a lab assistant she should have already known about lab safety and its already implied you should know about it before you even take up the job.

[@maxsteiner8268]

Wow such an arrogant response to the death of a woman just beginning her life. Perhaps if this had happened to a family member or friend you would be more sympathetic? Or are they all as perfect as you ?

[@Seorful]

@@maxsteiner8268 And again the same copy paste answer under a 8 year old comment

[@mikearge23]

Unfortunate is an understatement but you would think at that expert level of chemistry, anyone that is handling dangerous chemicals are fully educated on all of them and at the very least know how to handle them safely. Unfortunately I have to agree that it was an accident and nothing more... The professor didn’t set the flame. But my heart does go out to her and her family because that is just absolutely horrible just imagining how bad it was seeing how volatile that stuff is. The worst part was she fought for her life for how long? 16-18 days 🤦🏼‍♂️ she should not have died and that was unfair to say the least...

[@twoezy-vegito5363]

I am glad to see I am not the only one who thinks the professor was wronged

[@chemprofmatt]

I think it's unlikely that a jury will unanimously convict under these circumstances as his lawyers should be able to make the case that the University, and not the professor, had ultimate responsibility. Still, had Harran been more proactive I'm sure this tragedy could have been prevented and, regardless of whether he is convicted, much of the blame does lie with him. This incident is well-known across the country. I can't imagine living with the kind of guilt he must have to endure.

[@TheKlaun9]

The professor knows less about those things than any other person in the lab. But he's responsible nonetheless. I've never heard of it actually happening, but a safety briefing is actually required and ensurance companies will do everything for not having to pay anything for something like this

[@gplayersv]

So the lawyer says it's the dead's person's fault. Big surprise there.

[@V0YAG3R]

gplayer Fifth world mindset of blaming others for your own actions. Big surprise there 👌🏻

[@nattersting976]

If you're handling it you should know the risks and take ALL precautionary measures. Otherwise you should not be in the lab. Carelessness is my verdict. My heart goes out to her.❤

[@icedclips725]

It's her fault but I do wish UCLA would be shut down I hate universities.

[@41088avl01]

Things just dont add up. She was jn a lab tech union. I was in the heavy equipment operators union, we got safty training from our union, union reps would pull us aside to talk about the job, ask us what tasks we were preforming, tell us what to look out for from safty and to contract violations. We were well looked after, represented and watched over by our union reps. What the hell is the lab tech union doing, how many different ways are there for a lab tech to die. She was trained and published and some how this story made it look like she got hired off the street. She was probably royalty or from a very wealthy family who donated lots of money to the University. I could see felony for total disregard for life, like a employee locking another employee in a large oven as a joke and walking away only to come back an hour later to find out that the oven had been turned on. Shit ive heard of so many deserving work place accidents that was caused by some idiot total disregard for safty that caused harm and safty. But a well trained well educated lab tech sets her self on fire when she dropped a large glass container of a highly volatile chemical. He did not directly affect the way she was handling the container, he didn't get drunk and stumble into her, he simply did not run the lab as safely as possible. Dosent the University have a campus lab administrator who over sees all lab activities. Its not like a rouge professor can make a ton of mustard gas or a couple nuclear weapons. This is stupid he is held responsible like this. Like I said this just dosent add up. She has to come from a very wealthy family or something else is going on. Kind of curious about the case now.

[@beardedswine]

subbed. epic channel i'm sure it'll take off

[@quackatit]

also its a super base

[@duckdotpng2215]

That intro tho

[@HalLucyJen]

The professor is at fault for not providing any general lab safety training, or special training for the hazardous chemical and also for not providing personal protective equipment such as a face mask and fire resistant clothing.

[@stupidben999]

Yes, he is, his recording is shocking

[@dryoholungfish]

At least he was being honest. He could have pulled a politician's move and said, "I don't recall."

[@imarselassie1762]

cant blame the employers workers make mistake at times and i bet u this girl needed the job so badly.Sad story that she dies but dont use that against the professor to annoy is life

[@V0YAG3R]

"There should be no safer place"--- Poe's law, beyond parody, can't make this stuff up. The cognitive dissonance, and lack of self-awareness is olympic. I didn't know what this video was about, I seriously thought she was talking about Disney World when she said that, and then they show and talk about a chemical lab, where an adult woman, with a degree in chemistry, committed a grave imprudence and now her relatives and non-functional, sociopathic lawyers are trying to destroy the career and life of a man, a functional member society, with the fifth world mindest of blaming anyone but one's actions 👌🏻

[@nab.7250]

I sniffed Ammonia in chemistry lab by accident, I thought it was water but I passed out, if I had sniffed for a few more seconds I could’ve died.

[@theshermantanker7043]

Considering you literally test Ammonia by sniffing it, you aren't getting killed by Ammonia unless the entire room is filled with it and there's no oxygen

[@JayQBBMe]

^ Not a chemist