Sheri Sangji's Story - UCLA Chemical Fire
Summary
TLDRSherry Sanji, a 23-year-old chemistry graduate and aspiring law student, tragically died from burns covering 40% of her body after a laboratory accident at UCLA on December 29, 2008. While transferring a pyrophoric chemical, a syringe malfunction exposed the chemical to air, igniting it and causing a secondary fire. Despite UCLA's claims of safety training, California OSHA found no evidence and cited the university for inadequate protective measures. The incident has prompted UCLA to revamp its safety protocols, emphasizing the need for a strong safety culture to prevent future tragedies.
Takeaways
- 🎓 Sherry Sanji was a 23-year-old recent chemistry graduate working as a lab research assistant at UCLA.
- 🔬 She was passionate about making a difference in the world and was in the process of applying to law schools.
- 🧪 On December 29, 2008, a laboratory accident involving a highly reactive chemical led to her tragic death.
- 🔥 The accident occurred when tertiary butyl lithium, a pyrophoric chemical, sprayed onto her hands and ignited.
- 🚨 California OSHA cited UCLA's chemistry department for failing to require appropriate body protection for lab workers handling such chemicals.
- 👚 Sherry was not wearing a flame-resistant lab coat or the recommended protective clothing on the day of the accident.
- 📋 An internal safety inspection two months prior had already identified issues with personal protective equipment usage, which were not addressed.
- 📚 Dr. Jillian Kem reported on the incident extensively, highlighting the lack of documented safety training evidence.
- 🛠️ UCLA has since taken steps to improve safety, including better training, protective equipment, and unannounced inspections.
- 🏛️ Dr. James Gibson, director of UCLA's EHS office, emphasized the need for a multi-year process to change the safety culture.
- 💔 The incident had a profound impact on the campus, prompting a reevaluation of safety protocols and procedures.
- 🚨 The overarching message is the importance of safety as the first priority in any laboratory setting to prevent such tragedies.
Q & A
What was Sherry Sanji's age when she had her fatal accident at UCLA?
-Sherry Sanji was 23 years old the day she went to work at UCLA for the last time.
What was Sherry Sanji's profession at the time of the accident?
-Sherry Sanji was employed as a laboratory research assistant at the University of California, Los Angeles.
What degree had Sherry Sanji recently received before the accident?
-Sherry Sanji had just received her bachelor's degree in chemistry.
What was Sherry Sanji's ambition at the time of the accident?
-Sherry Sanji wanted to make a difference in the world and was applying to law schools.
What chemical caused the accident that led to Sherry Sanji's injuries?
-The accident was caused by a highly reactive chemical called tertiary butyl lithium, which ignited spontaneously on contact with air.
What was the immediate cause of the chemical exposure to Sherry Sanji?
-The plunger of the syringe came out while she was transferring the chemical, exposing it to air and causing it to catch fire.
What additional incident occurred during the accident?
-Sherry knocked over an open flask of a flammable solvent in the hood, which also caught fire.
What was the reaction of the chemistry community to Sherry Sanji's death?
-The entire chemistry community was shocked by the news of Sherry Sanji's death.
What were the findings of California OSHA regarding UCLA's safety measures?
-California OSHA cited UCLA's chemistry department for failing to require appropriate body protection for laboratory workers handling pyrophoric materials.
What was the recommendation by pyrophoric chemical manufacturers regarding protective clothing?
-The manufacturers of pyrophoric chemicals recommended more extensive protective clothing than what was provided to Sherry Sanji.
What steps has UCLA taken to improve safety following the accident?
-UCLA has improved safety accountability, oversight, training, provided proper protective equipment, conducted unannounced safety inspections, and worked on improving the laboratory safety culture.
What is the long-term goal of the safety improvements at UCLA?
-The long-term goal is to change the safety culture to prevent such accidents from happening again and to make safety the first priority in any laboratory.
Outlines
🔬 Tragic Laboratory Accident at UCLA
Sherry Sanji, a 23-year-old laboratory research assistant at UCLA, tragically lost her life on December 29th, 2008, due to a laboratory accident. Sherry, who had just obtained her bachelor's degree in chemistry and was applying to law schools, was transferring a highly reactive chemical, tertiary butyl lithium, when it ignited upon contact with air. Despite the university's claim of providing adequate safety training, California OSHA found no evidence of this and cited UCLA for failing to enforce proper protective measures. The incident led to a profound impact on the campus, prompting changes in safety protocols, including improved training, protective equipment, and a stronger safety culture. The incident serves as a reminder of the importance of safety as a top priority in any laboratory setting.
🛡️ Prioritizing Safety in Laboratories
The narrative emphasizes the paramount importance of safety in laboratory environments. It underlines the need for absolute priority to be given to safety measures to prevent accidents like the one that occurred at UCLA. The summary of the incident involving Sherry Sanji highlights the profound effect it had on individuals, families, and the university community. It calls for a collective responsibility to ensure that safety is not compromised and that no one else endures the loss experienced by Sherry's family and friends. The focus is on the necessity of a strong safety culture and the implementation of robust safety protocols to protect researchers and staff in laboratory settings.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Sherry Sanji
💡UCLA
💡Laboratory accident
💡Tertiary butyl lithium
💡Personal protective equipment (PPE)
💡California OSHA
💡Safety culture
💡Safety training
💡Unannounced safety inspections
💡Chemical and Engineering News
💡Preventable accident
Highlights
Sherry Sanji was a 23-year-old laboratory research assistant at UCLA, passionate about making a difference in the world.
Sherry had just received her bachelor's degree in chemistry and was applying to law schools.
On December 29, 2008, Sherry suffered a fatal laboratory accident while transferring a highly reactive chemical.
The chemical sprayed onto Sherry's hands and sweater, igniting and causing severe burns over 40% of her body.
Sherry tragically passed away 18 days after the accident due to her injuries.
UCLA was cited by California OSHA for failing to require appropriate body protection for workers handling pyrophoric materials.
An internal safety inspection two months prior had already found personal protective equipment not fully utilized.
Sherry was not wearing a flame-resistant lab coat or the recommended extensive protective clothing on the day of the accident.
Dr. Jillian Kem reported on the accident, emphasizing the lack of documented evidence for safety training provided by UCLA.
A flame-resistant lab coat could have given Sherry more time to react and potentially lessened the severity of her injuries.
UCLA has since taken steps to improve safety accountability, oversight, training, protective equipment, and laboratory safety culture.
Dr. James Gibson, director of UCLA's EHS office, acknowledges the need for a multi-year process to truly change the safety culture.
The accident has had a profound impact on the campus, prompting changes from the administration down to individual researchers.
Dr. Gibson urges other universities to improve their education, training, and safety culture to prevent similar accidents.
The main aim is to ensure such accidents do not happen again and that no one else endures the loss experienced by Sherry's family.
Safety must be the absolute priority and the first priority for any laboratory to protect lives and prevent tragedies.
Transcripts
we'd like people to remember that Sherry
was 23 years old the day she went to
work at UCLA for the last time um that
she was a young girl living her life to
the fullest she really really wanted to
make a difference in the world she
really wanted to change it sheah
harbanos Sanji Sherry to her friends was
employed as a laboratory research
assistant at the University of
California Los Angeles she had just
received her bachelor's degree in
chemistry and was applying to law
schools on December 29th 2008 Miss Sanji
was transferring a highly reactive
chemical when some of it sprayed onto
her hands and synthetic sweater and
spontaneously ignited sher's older
sister Navin Sanji now a surgical
resident at Harvard recalls the day of
the accident when my phone rang
unexpectedly um and I saw that Sheri was
calling me I thought she was call to
tell me about another law school that
she had heard from and um it turned out
to be a social worker from the UCLA
Medical Center who told me what happened
and I was in shock she had deep thir Dee
Burns to over 40% of her body Sheri
Sanji died from her injuries 18 days
after the laboratory accident there was
a life ahead that that she was really
looking forward to that was cut short by
what happened to her at
[Music]
UCLA on December 29th 2008 when most of
the campus was closed for Holiday
Vacation Sherry Sanji was working on a
research project at the uccla chemistry
Department according to a report by
California state OSHA Miss s was using a
syringe to transfer a solution of
tertiary butal lithium a dangerous
pyrophoric chemical that ignites
spontaneously on contact with air
somehow the plunger came out of the
syringe Barrel the chemical is exposed
to air it caught on fire she also had an
open flask of a flammable solvent in the
hood where she was working she knocked
that over that caught fire as well
chemist Dr Jillian Kem
reported extensively about the UCLA
accident for chemical and Engineering
news using documents obtained under
California open records laws my reaction
to the news of uh Sherry's death was
just shock um and I think pretty much
the entire chemistry Community was
shocked California OSHA cited UCLA's
chemistry department for failing to
require appropriate body protection for
Laboratory workers handling pyrophoric
materials an internal UCLA safety
inspection of the same laboratory just 2
months prior to the accident found that
personal protective equipment was not
fully utilized by laboratory Personnel
yet on the day of the accident M Sanji
had neither a flame resistant lab coat
nor the much more extensive protective
clothing recommended by manufacturers of
pyrophoric chemicals Dr kemsley believes
that even a flame resistant lab coat
would have helped the flame resistant
lab coat would
have given more time to react it would
have slowed the progress of the fire um
and probably would have meant that her
injuries were less severe and though the
university said it provided adequate
safety training for workers California
OSHA found no documented evidence of
this this accident has affected the
campus in a profound way U from from my
office
to the pis to the chancellor and the
upper Administration and we all
recognize that we had to make some um
changes to our program to further
strengthen it Dr James Gibson director
of UCLA's environment health and safety
office says UCLA has taken steps to
improve safety accountability and
oversight improve training provide
proper protective equipment conduct
unannounced safety inspections and
improve laboratory safety culture it's
not going to happen overnight that is
something that's going to be a multiple
year process to really change the safety
culture to where we think we should be
and Dr Gibson urges other universities
to take steps to improve their education
training and safety culture once we get
people to do that we're going to see a
dramatic decrease in the number of
accidents that occur one of our main
aims is to try and make sure that this
doesn't happen again and that no one has
to go through what we went through a
lost life is not just an anonymous loss
of life but real people and families are
profoundly affected safety has to be an
absolute priority and the first priority
for any Laboratory
5.0 / 5 (0 votes)