Harvard’s experimental laboratories are planning to strengthen lab safety practices following the death of Yale senior Michele Dufault in a chemistry lab machine shop.
Dufault, who was reportedly working on her senior thesis project at the time of her death, died when her hair accidentally caught in a lathe—an instrument used to shape wood.
“This is a tragic accident,” said Mathieu P. Lalonde, science safety officer in the Harvard Chemistry Department. “This can very well happen here … How can we ensure that it does not?”
The Chemistry Department’s lab safety office has re-evaluated its procedures since Dufault’s death on Tuesday in an effort to maximize the safety of students, staff, and faculty.
Lalonde said that the Chemistry Department’s shop is primarily used by graduate students and employees and plays no role in the undergraduate curriculum.
Nevertheless, the machine shop underwent inspection shortly after news of the Yale incident.
Plans to fund the installation of card swipe detectors are underway, and personnel restrictions on the machine shop may also be imposed, Lalonde said.
Read the full story at the Harvard Crimson.
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