Abstract
The University of Hawaii faces a total $115,500 fine for 15 workplace safety violations after a laboratory explosion in March on the university’s Manoa campus. Postdoctoral researcher Thea Ekins-Coward, who worked for the Hawaii Natural Energy Institute, lost one of her arms in the explosion. The Hawaii Occupational Safety & Health Division (HIOSH) issued the fine and citation items on Sept. 16. Ekins-Coward was preparing a gas mixture of 55% hydrogen, 38% oxygen, and 7% carbon dioxide when an electrostatic discharge likely ignited the mixture, according to an investigation report issued in July by the University of California Center for Laboratory Safety. The gas mixture was to be used to feed bacteria to produce biofuels and bioplastics. The gases were combined in a 49-L steel tank that was designed for compressed air and not electrically grounded. The safety violations cited by HIOSH include failing to do the following: identify and
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