A considerable part of university laboratories use hazardous chemicals, and accidents will easily occur when there is a safety hazard. Although two years have passed since the 12·26 laboratory accident at Beijing Jiaotong University, the painful experience and lessons it has brought us has deeply drawn the attention of the Ministry of Education and other safety departments. At the same time, we hope every laboratory personnel will learn from it.
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Accident Report
02
Accident Causes
Direct Cause of the Explosion
The hydrogen generated in the experiment was ignited and exploded by metal friction sparks at the rotating shaft of the mixer, causing the magnesium powder dust cloud to explode, and the explosion caused the surrounding magnesium powder and other combustibles to burn. The accident caused the deaths of 3 students and damaged a total of 4 laboratories and nearby containers outside.
Safety Factors | Details |
Unsafe Status of Materials | Chemicals and equipment used in the laboratory has potential risks: 1. Large amount of chemical usage. 2. The first reaction is magnesium and phosphoric acid to generate magnesium phosphate and hydrogen, accompanied by exotherm. Both hydrogen and magnesium powder are explosive chemicals. 3. The mixer used in the experiment generated sparks due to friction, which becomes the ignition source of the explosion. |
Unsafe Behaviors of Laboratory Staff | 1. The research team purchased and stored dangerous chemicals in large quantities in violation of regulations. 2. Risky operations and failure to take effective safety precautions: 1) The experimental plan used a large number of hazardous chemicals, and no risk assessment was carried out at the early stage; 2) The safety precautions were not in place: The magnesium dust in the hopper of the mixer was raised outwards, but the student covered it with lab coat, unexpecting the risks of magnesium powder. |
Unsafe Working Environment | 1. The experiment is carried out on the ground of the teaching laboratory without explosion-proof measures. 2. A large number of explosive hazardous chemicals are stored around the lab: including 30 barrels of magnesium powder next door. |
Management Deficiencies | The experiment is highly risky, and no risk assessment has been conducted. University and schools have no effective supervision mechanism, weak supervision and three-level management system is in vain: 1. The State-owned Assets Department, Science and Technology Department, and Security Department of School, the laboratory management center and relevant offices are not aware of the violations of the laboratory; 2. The position of a Director of Laboratory, person responsible for the safety of the incident laboratory, was vacant, leading to the breakdown of the three-level safety management system at the laboratory level. |
03
Accountability
Investigation identified it is an Accident of Responsible Parties. The public security filed a case for investigation against Li Desheng and the management personnel of the incident laboratory, according to the criminal law. In addition, a total of 12 cadres from university and schools and the Party committee of the School of Building and Civil Engineering were held accountable and given party and political sanctions.
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Accident Prevention Advice
The lessons learned from the past can be help to prevent accidents in the future. Accident Prevention Advice are summarized as follows:
1. Before the experiment, it is necessary to understand the safety operating procedures of experimental equipment, the physical and chemical properties of experimental chemicals and reactants, the use of hazardous chemicals, storage safety information, personal protection requirements, etc., and strictly abide by the safety operating procedures.
2. Procurement and storage of hazardous chemicals in compliance with regulations.
3. Before the experiment, carry out the risk assessment of the experiment project, predict the experiment risk, and take safety precautions; personal protection during the experiment.
4. Ensure that the safety measures of the experimental site matches the experimental risk.
5. Improve the classification and classification management of laboratories, clarify the scope, personnel and approval authority of each laboratory to carry out experiments, and have a designated person responsible for laboratory safety.
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