1. www.jst.umn.edu Azide Explosion Safety in the News

2. www.jst.umn.edu Report from C&EN “On June 17, an explosion […] injured a graduate student” 2 Flood Prevention in the Lab. 2010, Lab Manager. http://www.labmanager.com/lab-health-and-safety/2010/06/flood-prevention-in-the- lab?fw1pk=2#.VBNNG_ldUlk “The incident originated in lack of safety hazard awareness…” However, the injured student and his adviser were aware of the reaction hazards and the possibility of an azide side-product being produced.

3. www.jst.umn.edu Re-training Instinct The student had run this reaction many times. While complacency may have been a contributing factor to this incident, the student had set up engineering controls such as a blast shield to account for the large scale of the reaction. The student had also kept a close eye on his stir bar and reaction setup. When he spotted a problem, his instinct was to immediately correct the reaction setup, and not to put on PPE. 3 More details on the University of Minnesota explosion and response. July 30, 2014. C&EN. http://cenblog.org/the-safety-zone/2014/07/more-details-on-the-university-of-minnesota-explosion-and- response/

4. www.jst.umn.edu Re-training Instinct The student had run this reaction many times. While complacency may have been a contributing factor to this incident, the student had set up engineering controls such as a blast shield to account for the large scale of the reaction. The student had also kept a close eye on his stir bar and reaction setup. When he spotted a problem, his instinct was to immediately correct the reaction setup, and not to put on PPE. 4 More details on the University of Minnesota explosion and response. July 30, 2014. C&EN. http://cenblog.org/the-safety-zone/2014/07/more-details-on-the-university-of-minnesota-explosion-and- response/ As the safety culture improves, it is hoped that researchers’ first instinct will become personal safety, followed by that of others, then that of the work and facilities.