UCLA fined for workplace safety violations in lab worker's death

From The Los Angeles Times: State regulators have fined UCLA more than $31,000 for three "serious" violations of workplace safety laws in the fatal burning of a staff research assistant in a Dec. 29 chemistry lab fire. The findings by the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health concluded that Sheharbano "Sheri" Sangji, 23, had not been properly trained and was not wearing protective clothing when an experiment exploded, spreading second- and third-degree burns over 43% of her body. She died 18 days later.

FROM MARCH 2009: Federal and state safety agencies are investigating the University of California at Los Angeles after officials there failed to address lapses before a Dec. 29 chemical accident left a research assistant with fatal burns. Research assistant Sheri Sangji sustained second- and third-degree burns over 43 percent of her body when a flash fire set her clothing ablaze. She died 16 days later. UCLA has launched a comprehensive review of lab safety protocols and has stepped up inspections. Read The Los Angeles Times article.