Hello!  You can stop holding your breath now . . .

 

In April of this year (2017) I distributed a survey via the DCHAS and CSHEMA Lab Safety email lists on the topic of Laboratory Hot Plate Malfunctions. 

I said that I would share the results of the survey with those who were on the original distribution list, and today I am making good on that promise.

 

Along with collaborators Joe Pickel and Mark Mathews from ORNL, I incorporated some of the survey data into a poster that was presented at the ACS SciMix in DC last month. A link to a PDF of the poster can be found on the DCHAS website:  https://dchas.org/2017/09/13/catching-up-with-runaway-hot-plates/

 

If anyone is interested in the raw survey data (sanitized of any identifying information for individuals or institutions, of course), please contact me directly. 

 

Purpose of survey

To collect anecdotal information on hot plate failures due to malfunction and to better understand the relative prevalence of these malfunctions, what types of malfunctions are occurring, why they occur, and the consequences of the events, including lessons learned.

 

High-level results

There were 25 responses to the survey.

In total, 17 respondents described either spontaneous-heating malfunctions, runaway-heating malfunctions, or both.  The total combined number of events reported for these malfunctions was 32, with 20 of them reported to be reproducible or otherwise confirmed as the cause of the unintended heating event.

 

Please feel free to contact me with any questions.

 

Kimi Brown

(Kimi Bush)

Sr. Lab Safety Specialist

Environmental Health and Radiation Safety

University of Pennsylvania

3160 Chestnut St., Suite 400

Philadelphia, PA 19104-6287

Office: 215-746-6549

Voice/cell/text:  215-651-0557

fax: 215-898-0140