Completion of probe into UH lab explosion pushed back to May
ASSOCIATED PRESS
A woman read a sign on March 17 informing people that a building was closed on the University of Hawaii-Manoa campus after an explosion in a lab. The University of Hawaii says an independent investigation into what caused a laboratory explosion last month has been delayed by several weeks.
The University of Hawaii says an independent investigation into what caused a laboratory explosion last month has been delayed by several weeks.
The University of California Center for Laboratory Safety was initially expected to complete its investigation by the end of this month. But the University of Hawaii said today the center’s probe is now expected to be finished in mid-to-late May.
The explosion caused a visiting researcher to lose an arm. The Honolulu Fire Department has classified it as an accident.
The UC investigation is delayed because the Hawaii State Occupational Safety and Health Division wouldn’t allow university officials back into the site of the accident until last week after it finished its own review.
UC investigators were unable to test materials until state officials released the scene.
4 responses to “Completion of probe into UH lab explosion pushed back to May”
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Great cooperation by the Hawaii State Occupational Safety and Health Division. Turkeys!
typical state behavior, making it harder than it has to be.
KITV’s news website had pictures of the lab after the explosion and showed all of the blood on the floor and walls but more importantly that lab clearly was an tragedy waiting to happen. Even before the explosion the lab was piled with other equipment and chemicals and looked like the show where some hoarder piles their stuff everywhere and you can barely walk into the lab. A whole bunch of gas canisters was in the lab itself and tons of electrical and other devices where all over the place as well. Doesn’t take an OHSA expert to see the manager of that lab was a slob that piled all kinds of equipment and chemicals with gas canisters for various experiments in his tiny lab; there obviously was no explosive gas detector in the lab and no safety measures taken for explosive gases, such as having the experiment done in a negative pressure area where air is vented out to reduce the possibility of the concentration of explosive gases that accumulated where the lab researcher worked. It is a surprise they passed inspection BEFORE the explosion as that mess of a lab with so much stuff used and stored in the lab also had an ongoing experiment using explosive gases that ignite from an electrical spark from any number of other electrical equipment being used in that lab.
So you can look at a photo after an explosion and reconstruct in your mind what it looked like before the explosion? Sure, that makes sense. How is it that you know everything about every subject? Genius!