In what Nature has characterized as the first time a scientist has gone to trial over an academic laboratory accident, University of California, Los Angeles faculty member Patrick Harran will stand trial over the 2008 accident involving research assistant Sheharbano Sangji. Sangji died as a result of burns suffered as a result of handling tert-butylilithiumm. Chemical and Engineering News has covered the case extensively, and I would encourage you to read it to better understand the specifics of the accident and associated charges.
Harran and the University of California Regents were charged in late 2011 with willful violation of laboratory health and safety guidelines. In the summer of 2012 the Regents were dismissed from the case after a plea agreement. This agreement included an admission of responsibility for substandard lab conditions, improved support of comprehensive lab safety, a scholarship in the victim’s name, and monetary penalties (in addition to fines already assessed). Harran’s attorneys have offered a vigorous defense, and given that the charges in question involve willful violation of regulations (rather than negligence, which could be an easier charge to prove), the outcome of the trial is far from certain. A settlement/plea bargain may still take place, Dr. Harran may be found not guilty, or he could serve as many as four and one-half years if convicted.
What is even less clear is the impact this case may have on the behavior of universities, lab directors and supervisory researchers. Lab safety seems to an afterthought in way too many labs. Perhaps someone going to jail may prompt a change in action, but I’m afraid it won’t be sufficient. It could be too easy to dismiss this case as an outlier, and continue with the lax attitude toward safety that has claimed too many lives.
Pasco Phronesis 