Posted on behalf of Rex Dalton

The accidental death earlier this year of a researcher in a chemistry laboratory fire continues to reverberate at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

UCLA officials have recently switched to a defensive mode, after last month agreeing to pay nearly $32,000 in fines and accepting health and safety citations for violations following the 16 January death of Sheri Sangji.

A statement posted on 8 June says the university will engage in a partial appeal of the state sanctions to prevent their use in any future civil or criminal proceeding against UCLA. Sangji’s family and friends are pushing for more scrutiny of the 29 December accident. Sangji, age 23, was critically burned when a syringe malfunctioned when she was removing volatile t-butyl lithium from a container.

The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health cited UCLA in May for inadequate training, not providing protective clothing, and failing to correct previously identified lab safety deficiencies. At the time, UCLA noted it had taken all required corrective actions.

But now a UCLA attorney’s statement says the university had corrected the noted deficiencies prior to the incident – only failed to document those remedies. The university says the appeal doesn’t mean it isn’t serious about maintaining safe laboratories.

The appeal will be heard during an administrative hearing process in the coming months.