An explosion accident analysis of the laboratory in university

Abstract

Academic research in the laboratory is often considered as the work with lower risks compared with other process industries. Whereas, it is revealed that there are still many accidents happening in the laboratory, causing deaths, injuries, and economic losses. In order to identify the main causes and improve the safety management, an explosion accident in a laboratory of a university is thoroughly investigated based on the 24Model and 5Whys method. The results indicate that inadequate safety knowledge and insufficient safety awareness of the experimenters serve as main contributors of the accident. In order to effectively prevent such accidents, it is necessary to strengthen the safety training of the experimenters and associated technical managers, so as to create a good safety culture atmosphere in the university. Moreover, a smart safety management system based on internet of things (IoT) is established for the laboratory, which contains equipment management subsystem, experiment consumables management subsystem, personnel management, training and assessment subsystem, environmental monitoring subsystem, and accident diagnosis subsystem. With the help of the system, daily safety of the laboratory can be greatly improved.

Mitigation of Potential Risks in Chemical Laboratories: A Focused Review

“…PPE encompasses a variety of accessories including specialized clothes and equipment that are specially designed to reduce possible health and safety hazards linked with hazardous chemical exposure, physical threats, and other workplace risks. − Individuals working in chemical laboratories and other high-risk job environments benefit greatly from PPE. When PPE is used by established recommendations, it acts as an essential protective precaution for laboratory staff, thereby minimizing the chance of accidents and injuries. − …”

Experimental methods in chemical engineering: Hazard and operability analysis—HAZOP

“…Hundreds of accidents occurred in public and private laboratories in the United States from 2001 to 2018, [48] some with severe outcomes ranging from spills and leaks (e.g., National University, Singapore), explosions of flammable and high-energy materials (e.g., Tsinghua University, China, and Texas Tech University, USA), inhalation of toxics (e.g., University of Chicago, USA), and fires (University of California, USA, and University of Health and Sciences of Phnom Pen, Cambodia). [46,[48][49][50][51] Other examples relate to the failure of pilot plants due to uncontrolled reactions or during exothermic catalytic operations and polymerizations. [51] In 2021, nine people were injured, and two died in the aftermath of an explosion in the chemistry department of Nanjing University of Aeronaturics and Astronautics (NUAA) College of Materials Science and Technology in China.…”

Determination of University Students’ Laboratory Safety Awareness: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…Kathryn A. McGarry further proposes a “bottom-up” approach from the student perspective, the JST model, to improve the safety culture in academic laboratories . Other researchers have created different laboratory safety systems for students, such as a real-time laboratory safety monitoring system based on intelligent vision and an intelligent safety management system for laboratories based on the Internet of Things, and their findings demonstrate that both safety systems can improve safety in the research environment, enabling students to establish safety awareness and safety culture. , Additionally, a variety of safety strategies have been suggested, including “safety moments”, “safety activities”, “RAMP”, “visual aids”, and others, by researchers who want to offer a simple and effective method for improving students’ awareness of laboratory safety. − Joseph M. Crockett describes a laboratory safety training course and discusses its advantages and disadvantages . A flexible review method, consisting of an online test that covers safety equipment, safety rules, and safety knowledge, was put out by Wendy A. Loughlin for laboratory safety training .…”