Now, a new development in the case is likely to reinvigorate the training and safety discussion not just at UCLA, but at any college or university where chemical work is performed: prosecutors last week filed felony charges against the UC regents and the chemistry professor who oversaw the lab, Patrick Harran, marking what researchers believe is the first criminal indictment stemming from an accident in the history of American academe.
The charges, filed by the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office days before the statute of limitations was set to expire, allege that the regents and Harran violated state codes mandating employee training on handling hazardous chemicals and minimizing risk of exposure, as well as requirements for proper staff safeguards and clothing. Sangji was wearing a synthetic sweater, not a protective lab coat, which caught fire and melted when the syringe she was using to transfer t-butyl lithium -- a chemical that ignites when exposed to air -- fell apart. Harran faces up to 4 1/2 years in prison, and UCLA could be fined up to $1.5 million for each of the three counts, all of which target both the professor and the regents.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office filed charges against the University of California and UC Los Angeles chemistry professor Patrick Harran on Dec. 27, 2011, for felony violations of California labor laws in the death of a staff research assistant three years ago.
Sheharbano (Sheri) Sangji, 23, died on Jan. 16, 2009, from injuries sustained in a fire 18 days earlier in a UCLA chemistry laboratory. Working with tert-butyllithium, which ignites spontaneously in air, she was drawing the chemical from a bottle into a syringe when the plunger came out of the syringe barrel (C&EN, Aug. 3, 2009, page 29). Sangji was not wearing a lab coat, and the chemical splashed onto her clothes and set them on fire. Sangji was burned on her torso, arms, and hands.

Three years after a young chemistry researcher died following a lab fire at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), her supervisor, the organic chemist Patrick Harran, and the University of California now both face criminal charges. Health and safety experts think that it is the first instance of criminal prosecution over an accident in a US academic laboratory.

On 27 December, the Los Angeles District Attorney charged Harran and the regents of the UC system with three counts each of “willful violation of an occupational health and safety standard causing the death of an employee”. [Felony filing, pdf].  An arrest warrant has been issued for Harran, whose lawyer told the LA Times that he will surrender to authorities. He faces up to 4.5 years in prison if convicted, an attorney spokesperson told the paper,  while UCLA could be fined up to $1.5 million on each count.  In a statement, UCLA said it “intends to mount a vigorous defense against the outrageous charges”.
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The accident triggered calls to improve academia’s safety standards not just at UCLA, but across the United States. But as Nature discussed in an article on laboratory safety after Yale undergraduate Michele Dufault died in April 2011, there’s little evidence that Sangji’s death has shifted the behaviour of bench scientists or laboratory heads, outside of UCLA.

The LA District Attorney’s legal action could shake up that attitude. “I think this is a game-changer. It will significantly affect how people think about their responsibilities now that it’s clear there’s the possibility of going to jail,” says Jim Kaufman, president of the Laboratory Safety Institute in Natick, Massachusetts.

Concerns surrounding prosecution have been a powerful incentive for change in the United Kingdom, where around 25 years ago Sussex University, in Brighton, was prosecuted for negligence after an explosion in a chemistry laboratory shot a piece of metal into a student’s abdomen. (The student later recovered). Tom Welton, a chemist at Imperial College London, told Nature that the episode had a profound effect on safety standards in Britain.

UCLA’s statement notes that an earlier investigation by the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (which led to fines) found “no wilful violations on the part of UCLA”. The university called the district attorney’s decision to press charges yesterday “truly baffling”; “the facts provide absolutely no basis for the appalling allegation of criminal conduct,” it said. UCLA would not comment beyond its statement.

LSUPD and the Baton Rouge Fire Department Hazardous Materials Division are investigating a hazardous spill at Choppin Hall, according to Sgt. Blake Tabor, LSUPD spokesman.

Tabor said LSUPD believes a University student was conducting an authorized experiment on the seventh floor when a hazardous substance fell or leaked.

A University email identified the substance as N-Butyllithium.

Tabor said no injuries were reported.

The building was evacuated following the spill. Tabor said he does not know when the building will be reopened.