Yale student's accidental death: a cautionary message to all

New Haven authorities received a call around 2:30 a.m. Wednesday about an accident at a Yale University chemistry lab machine shop in which Michele Dufault, a senior astronomy major, was killed inside when her hair was pulled into a piece of machine equipment.

The university told the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration that Dufault had been operating the machinery for a senior project when she died from accidental asphyxia by neck compression.

From Michele Dufualt's Facebook.

Remembered as "a living saint," "a math and science whiz," and "brilliant;" it seems as though Dufault was a young woman with very much potential in her future, but I wonder why such an amazing and intelligent individual--I mean, she did go to Yale after all--did not take precautionary measures while operating lab equipment and tie back her hair.

From wood-shop classes in middle school up to science classes in high school, one thing instructors have always drilled into students' heads is to tie back hair--along with roll up your sleeves, wear proper eye protection, etc. The machinery found in labs and work shops have always looked like rickety, complex contraptions to me, so I never risked the chance of injury when I'd use them.

Of course, there are people who either forget or just neglect to take precautionary measures when operating machinery, but for those who have used such machinery before--which I'm sure Dufault had, considering how she had been described as a "science whiz" and probably used such equipment before this one fatal incident--ignoring such measures to insure one's own safety does not make sense to me, no matter how familiar they are with the equipment.

It is clear that Dufault will be missed very much and as Yale Vice President Linda Lorimer announced, the university will be "[finding] ways in the next day to gather to celebrate her life and grieve her loss." However, I believe Dufualt's tragic and unfortunate death should also be seen as a warning to those who ignore or easily forget precautionary measures.

Works Cited

Caulfield, Philip. "Yale student, Michele Dufault, killed in freak lab accident after her hair gets caught in machine." NY Daily News. NYDailyNews.com, 13 April 2011. Web. 13 April 2011.

Christoffersen, John. "Yale student killed when lab machine snags hair." Yahoo! News. Yahoo!, 13 April 2011. Web. 13 April 2011.