JANE writes:

This is a sad story! I’m sending it to you because of the “perfect girl” angle – plasma physics, mentoring other girls, sax player, in the marching band no less – almost a caricature of what I imagine the typical elite college resumé to be – and yet, somehow, someone with long hair allowed near a lathe! Sad.

                                                — Comments —

Bob writes:

I taught lab courses for years as both a TA and a faculty member, and I have had machine shop training. Every school nowadays (but not back then) has detailed safety protocols that lab managers are required to follow.

If Michele Dufault was in fact alone in a machine shop at night, that would be a safety violation. Machine shops are among the most dangerous places on the planet, and even experienced people under supervision have accidents. Loose long hair, loose clothing, neckties, bandanas, long sleeves, etc. are all contributors to accidents.

Yale is in big trouble, and deservedly so. Her thesis advisor is in trouble, too.

Laura writes:

That’s what struck me too, that she was even alone in the lab. If someone had been there, she likely could have been saved.

The Times article says she co-authored a 60-page report on safety protocols. Perhaps, with this being the end of the school term, she was under pressure to complete her project and discarded common sense.

Robert P. writes:

I work in a facility with a large machine shop, and there are even more safeguards in place here than Bob hints. For starters, any good lathe will have a cover and an interlock, and the lathe will not start turning when that cover is open. Period. So if her hair could even get into a lathe, Yale was using some seriously ancient or jury-rigged machines. We have machines that are 40 years old that have this basic safety feature. 

One big thing where colleges at least used to be lacking; OSHA had no jurisdiction, so many do not implement best practices. For example, while I was a grad student at Colorado’s engineering school, I bumped into firemen looking for a gas leak without any protective gear suitable for that. They also did not know where the lab was, and there was no automated alarm system. However, the college had enough money for new furniture, a bigger dean’s office, and a new associate dean. 

I contacted OSHA, who explained they had no jurisdiction, nor did the Boulder fire marshall. If the situation is similar in New Haven, yes, our elected officials are also complicit in the death of this young lady. 

One minor quibble with Bob and Laura here; having someone else there might not have saved her life, as bad things happen quickly when you get drawn in by a few horsepower. The only thing that might have helped is someone telling her “you’re too tired to work here, and your hair is down.”

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