Safety
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Written accounts should be secured from euery witness to learn accurate details of the accident. Prompt affidavits are invaluable. The value of an affidavit can be diminished by one taken several years later by a witness whose testimony had not been taken and whose views are contradictory. Had all affidavits been taken a t the time of the incident, views might have been more compatible or the differences led to clarifications while memories were fresh. 111. Witness accounts a. Promptly procure accounts for every witness to accident b. Valuable to determine the cause of accident e. In some cases prompt affidavits may have legal value Medical personnel and responsible laboratory personnel should make prompt formal written reports to the management, the probable cause of the accident determined, and recommendations made. IV. Reoarts to manaeement sonnel
b. Give probable cause of aceident c. Recommendations to avoid recurrence
Liability in the Academic Chemistry Robert B. Scott, Jr. and A. S. Hazari, The University of Mississippi, University, Mississippi 38677
The importance of establishing beyond a shadow of doubt that students have been properly cautioned about the hazards of working in a chemistry laboratory is beeoming increasingly apparent from testimony given in liability suits. Written and oral instructions an safety and provision with narma1 safetv facilities are recognized neeessit m , hut ;hat l a nut en* ugh. i;) rdrli1tc.n. the teacher rnn, he rnllrd u p m rc, p r w c thnt nn experiment is reasonably safe for the learner. But that is not all by any means! In a liability suit, an injured student might 'protest that he did not realize that he had not understood the instructions. Another might say that he misunderstood them, saying, for example, that the teacher did not talkclearly enough. Even if he has signed a statement acknowledging that he has read and understood the instructions, a jury may agree that he was coerced into signing it because many of them have had to sign statements themselves, often with inadequate time t o
thoughtfully read the fine print. To protect its instructors, a number of chemistry departments have resorted to giving tests on safety, some prior t o initial work in the course. Only a few give safety tests throughout the course because it cuts into the time needed for teaching theory and techniques. But these testsare of rnuchvalue only under certain circumstances. The Chemistry Department a t the University of Mississippi has attempted to devise as fool-proof a test as possible. It is not the ultimate, and the most important reason this account has been written is to encourage uther- I < . p
