More than 3 years after a lab explosion at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, the school’s department of Environmental Health and Safety Office implemented a new laboratory safety software platform called the “UH Safety Solutions," or UHSS.
It will guide scientists through safety processes and allows them to identify and communicate known hazards.
Officials say the platform will allow them to accurately and quickly manage chemicals; streamline inspections; identify trends and target resources; create lab groups; and assess lab hazards.
The platform was developed in response to a blast that left post-doctoral researcher Thea Ekins-Coward without part of her arm. She was conducting a routine experiment in March 2016, when a gas cylinder exploded.
Ekins-Coward filed suit against the University a year later, alleging the school was negligent.
Honolulu firefighters later determined that the explosion was an ‘accident.’