Sheri Sangji 1985-2009: A tragic & preventable death
No research is worth a person's life.
On the 16th of January 2009, a 23 year old research assistant, Sheri Sangji, lost her life to severe burns suffered in a UCLA chemistry laboratory fire. Sheri went to work on the 29th of December. She suffered second and third degree burns over 40% of her body from exposure to tert-Butyllithium, a chemical that combusts on contact with air. Sheri spent the next 18 excruciating days in intensive care, fighting for her life. She never got the chance to come home.
This accident should not have happened. We want to know what events led up to the fire, how and why it happened, and we want to prevent it from happening again. Sign now to support our efforts.BREAKING NEWS: UCLA takes legal action to reduce liability, and formally claim no responsibility for Sheri's death. Please sign to help justice be served!
Cal/OSHA classified the case as a 'serious violation'. However, Cal/OSHA's own definitions make clear that the UCLA laboratory committed a 'willful violation' of safety procedures and standards. Unless the violations are classified as 'willful', it is rare that the District Attorney will take up the case, and that UCLA and the Principal Investigator will be held fully accountable for this loss of life.
It is now up to us to bring this case to the District Attorney's office and get it the attention it deserves. Sign now to support our efforts.
Help us bring to light the circumstances, decisions, and regulatory failures that resulted in a loss of life:
- What were the events leading up to the fire?
- Why were people working in a lab that had not been approved by an internal safety check?
- Why was Sheri asked to come in and work when the campus was closed and UCLA was unable to respond to emergencies in full capacity?
- Why were UCLA employees allowed to work with dangerous chemicals in a lab without wearing appropriate protective gear, despite it being a legal requirement for UCLA to ensure that they were?
- Why were Harran lab members not trained in emergency protocol?
With this petition we state:
1. We are outraged at the death of this talented young woman.
2. We would like to see a full investigation into the issue by the District Attorney.
3. We would like to see all those involved to be held accountable for their actions or lack thereof.
4. We would like a review of the legislation to ensure it is a strong enough deterrent so that this does not happen again.
We want to make sure justice is served and that human life is given its proper value.
We want to make sure that this never happens again.
Please support our efforts by attaching your signature to the letter below. The letter will be sent to our California Senators, Barbara Boxer and Diane Feinstein, as well as our Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger and to the Cal/OSHA Standards Board.
Sign now.
To find out more about Sheri:
Other links with this story:
http://www.latimes.com/la-me-uclalab5-2009may05,0,7130412.story%20
http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/career_magazine/previous_issues/articles/2009_05_01/caredit.a0900054
No research is worth a person's life.
On the 16th of January 2009, a 23 year old research assistant, Sheri Sangji, lost her life to severe burns suffered in a UCLA chemistry laboratory fire. Sheri went to work on the 29th of December. She suffered second and third degree burns over 40% of her body from exposure to tert-Butyllithium, a chemical that combusts on contact with air. Sheri spent the next 18 excruciating days in intensive care, fighting for her life. She never got the chance to come home.
This accident should not have happened. We want to know what events led up to the fire, how and why it happened, and we want to prevent it from happening again. Sign now to support our efforts.BREAKING NEWS: UCLA takes legal action to reduce liability, and formally claim no responsibility for Sheri's death. Please sign to help justice be served!
Cal/OSHA classified the case as a 'serious violation'. However, Cal/OSHA's own definitions make clear that the UCLA laboratory committed a 'willful violation' of safety procedures and standards. Unless the violations are classified as 'willful', it is rare that the District Attorney will take up the case, and that UCLA and the Principal Investigator will be held fully accountable for this loss of life.
It is now up to us to bring this case to the District Attorney's office and get it the attention it deserves. Sign now to support our efforts.
Help us bring to light the circumstances, decisions, and regulatory failures that resulted in a loss of life:
- What were the events leading up to the fire?
- Why were people working in a lab that had not been approved by an internal safety check?
- Why was Sheri asked to come in and work when the campus was closed and UCLA was unable to respond to emergencies in full capacity?
- Why were UCLA employees allowed to work with dangerous chemicals in a lab without wearing appropriate protective gear, despite it being a legal requirement for UCLA to ensure that they were?
- Why were Harran lab members not trained in emergency protocol?
With this petition we state:
1. We are outraged at the death of this talented young woman.
2. We would like to see a full investigation into the issue by the District Attorney.
3. We would like to see all those involved to be held accountable for their actions or lack thereof.
4. We would like a review of the legislation to ensure it is a strong enough deterrent so that this does not happen again.
We want to make sure justice is served and that human life is given its proper value.
We want to make sure that this never happens again.
Please support our efforts by attaching your signature to the letter below. The letter will be sent to our California Senators, Barbara Boxer and Diane Feinstein, as well as our Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger and to the Cal/OSHA Standards Board.
Sign now.
To find out more about Sheri:
Other links with this story:
http://www.latimes.com/la-me-uclalab5-2009may05,0,7130412.story%20
http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/career_magazine/previous_issues/articles/2009_05_01/caredit.a0900054
The Facts:
UCLA did an internal check and found more than a dozen safety violations in Patrick Harran's laboratory on Oct 30 2008, and instructed that they be fixed by Dec 5 2008. Records show that during the inspection on Dec 30, 2008, a day after the fire, most of the deficiencies were still present.
As per the Cal/OSHA website 'Employers who use any substance listed as a hazardous substance in Section 339 of Title 8 of the California Code of Regulations, or subject to the Federal Hazard Communications Standard (29 CFR 1910.1200), must provide employees with information on the contents on Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS), or equivalent information about the substance that trains employees to use the substance safely.' Sheri was not supplied with this training.
The Law:
OSHA's definition of 'willful violation' encompasses a situation where an employer has received notification of previous violations and has not acted to correct said violations.(Title 8 of the California Code of Regulations Sec. 334. (e)). As documented by Cal/OSHA, UCLA administration and the Principal Investigator, Patrick Harran, were informed of several safety violations and failed to correct them. Cal/OSHA's own definitions make clear that the UCLA laboratory committed a 'willful violation' of safety procedures and standards. However, unless the violations are classified as 'willful', it is rare that the District Attorney will take up the case, and that UCLA will be held fully accountable for this loss of life.
Unresolved questions:
Laboratory safety is a matter of public concern. The events leading to the fire are not clearly discussed. Was Sheri trained by UCLA or the Principal Investigator, Patrick Harran, to use this procedure? Was this the best method to handle this substance? Is the amount of this dangerous chemical she was transferring within the legal limits of the state? Were the laboratory members trained in emergency protocol? There has been no discussion on the conduct of those involved after the fire and during the investigation. As citizens and taxpayers, we would like to know what happened.
With this petition we state:
1. We are outraged at the death of this talented young woman.
2. We would like to see a full investigation into the issue by the District Attorney.
3. We would like all those involved to be held accountable for their actions or lack thereof.
4. We would like a review of the legislation to ensure it is a strong enough deterrent so that this does not happen again.
As residents of the state of California, we urge our elected officials to demand an investigation.
This is shocking... UCLA should be punished for irresponsible practices. x-(
We miss you. We'll keep fighting for you.
Cal-OSHA, UCLA and the Principal Investigator bear direct responsibility in this tradegy. Unfortunately, safety is only considered important after such a devastating event.
Sheri's story hits close to home in so many ways. While I have not personally suffered the loss that her family has, I work hard to prevent these types of terrible accidents from happening in my workplace. I am an EH&S professional. I remind the young people that I provide safety training to that the "face of safety" stares back at them every day in the mirror. Perhaps these efforts will go far enough to prevent this type of tragedy from every happening again.
This was 100% preventable. UCLA must change its culture to make supervisors accountable just like in industry. Safety must be part of performance just like the number of papers published.
All chemical laboratories are required to adhere to their Chemical Hygiene Plan. In the plan, all employees shall know the location and use of safety showers. The simple act of placing Sheri in the safety shower would have reduced her burns tremendously. Unfortunately, the lab assistants working with her didn't know! In addition, no employee with such little training and experience with chemicals as Sheri should be allowed to use such violent chemicals without hands-on supervision. It is the fault of the university and the supervisor for not being on top of their safety protocols and hazard assessments and exposure.
I am aghast at the lack of accountability demonstrated by the UCLA institution, the PI at UCLA and CAL-OSHA. At my employer, we have had similar problems that thus far have not been this serious. However, to ensure that impartial and non-politicized answers will be forthcoming, we ALL need to push for an independent study of root causes and then hold those who would hide behind a politicians shield FULLY ACCOUNTABLE for this senseless tragedy. If we do not stick together on this, like history, it will be doomed to repeat itself, next week, next month, next year. Will it take such an incident to occur to someone from a prominent family to achieve justice? $32,000 is NOT justice - nor should it be allowed to substitute for it. This is an ugly insult to Sheri's family and to Sheri's memory! For those who are unsure about how to help, one thing is for sure -- we need to know ALL the facts that Dr. Harran and UCLA are hiding to prevent justice! Life unjustly taken is worth a lot more than this - and responsibility/accountability for these grave deeds are yet to be impartially assessed!
The PI of this lab must be held accountable.
I hope that this can be investigated to put her family at peace and to prevent it from happening again. May she rest in peace.
I sincerely hope, InshaAllah, Fighters of Justice would keep at it.
My thoughts and prayers are with Sheri's family and friends during this very difficult time.
Sheri was an amazing person. I was her TA in organic chemistry a few years ago and was always impressed by her intelligence, kindness, and easy going attitude. She will be dearly missed.
