Hello Kirk,

I am sorry to hear that you didn't get your star badge and cowboy hat!!!

Thank you so much for your response. And, thank you for your efforts in organizing the Demo Exchange. I agree that it is a chaotic, but VERY worthwhile event at the meetings. I only had about 15 minutes (and I spent most of it giving my students a quick break from their table) to explore the Demo Exchange myself this time as I had a talk during the event. I did notice the increased level of safety and the people with the orange vests, and even before the event with the requirements given to chapters for the demos in advance. And, I do applaud these efforts! I don't want anyone to think otherwise as this one video was the only concern from this event. The other one was during a workshop or talk, not Demo Exchange, in previous years.

I was approached by Marta Gmurczyk at the meeting about how to present my chapter's hazard assessment and mitigation matrix form at the next Demo Exchange as the next safety step at the event. But, I just don=E2=80™t think it will fit with the design of Demo Exchange. I mean=E2=80=A6I know I wouldn't spend my time talking to someone about filling out a safety form if I had time to go to all the tables of cool hands-on stuff instead.

By the way, I was probably one of those faculty you had to correct in the "hot zone" as when I came in I had no idea that there were hot zones and my students were busy presenting to correct their dept=E2=80™s safety officer. Was this requirement for consistency because it was hard to monitor or because of true concern? I even saw tables with just LEGOs requiring goggles. I ask because my dept learned in their last Industry Curriculum Advisory meeting that DOW and others want our students to be better able to recognize when and when not to wear particular PPE. So, our focus this year has been on when to wear what and we are having a heck of a time breaking them from wearing gloves to do everything.. As you saw, it is not a problem with goggles as people aren=E2=80™t as good about wearing those-

I appreciate you taking these concerns to the planning committee. Maybe something to consider would be to stick with the hands-on style of the event and only allow presentations of activities that are safe enough to hold in that format and not show videos. I am sure the videos were very popular. But, as you said below, there are much better ways to engage an audience. And, as a faculty member whose students have benefited greatly from these events in the past, I would be happy to help with future events however I can in the future.

Thanks Again,

Monique Wilhelm
Laboratory Manager/Adjunct Lecturer/Chem Club Co-Advisor
Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry
University of Michigan-Flint
Flint, MI 48502



From: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety [mailto:DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**PRINCETON.EDU] On Behalf Of Kirk Hunter
Sent: Wednesday, April 12, 2017 12:05 PM
To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**PRINCETON.EDU
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Flaming Snowballs **At_Symbol_Here** ACS

Hello All,
Enjoyed seeing many of you in San Francisco.
Here's what I know about the Chem Demo Exchange (CDE). One of my ACS volunteer hats is that I serve on the Undergraduate Programming Advisory Board (UPAB) which is under SOCED and plans activities at national meetings for undergrads. One of my "assignments" was to serve as one of the safety monitors for the CDE event. So, here is what I know.

It is my understanding that the student chapters submit their plans for the demos and they are reviewed and approved in the ACS Undergrad Office. I am not involved in this review process, but I think they are supposed to follow NCW guidelines for demo safety and use only household chemicals. I will get more info on this.

I know the group that you are referring to, but I don't recall the school. I do know that The Flaming Snowball demo was NOT done at the CDE. The group only showed videos. As I recall, all of their demos were combustion related. The group expressed to me some dismay at not being able to actually do these demos at the event. I did not watch all of the videos and I don't recall the "Flaming Snowball" one, so I can't comment about the appropriate use of PPE in them. However, this is something the reviewers should take into consideration.
I have seen the ACS organizers of this event take comments and recommendations very seriously and make changes. For example, the way solid and liquid wastes are collected and segregated is a vast improvement from what is was done a few years ago. Starting with this meeting, the "safety enforcers" or monitors will now wear orange or green vests making the job easier as an event "official." (I wanted a metal star badge, white cowboy hat, mirrored sunglasses and holster, but I was over-ruled.) For what it's worth - our biggest fight during the CDE is having folks (especially faculty!!) wear eye protection when they are in the "hot zone" near the tables.

The ChemDemo Exchange is fun and interesting. It can be chaotic, too! The bottom line is that all of the demos must be very low risk. Yes, many are bland, but some of the demos are quite ingenious and engaging. There were several chapters from Puerto Rico who always had a crowd at their tables and golly, were they enthusiastic! That type of enthusiasm is better than any explosion demo in attracting students to chemistry!

The questions you bring up are good ones and things that should be examined.. I will included these comments, along with some of my own, in my report to the UPAB committee. If you have suggestions that would improve the event and lower the risks and hazards, please pass them on!

Kirk Hunter
______
Kirk Hunter
Department Chair
Chemical/Environment Laboratory Technology and
Pharmacy Technician Program
Texas State Technical College
3801 Campus Drive
Waco, Texas 76705
(254) 867-4859 (o)
email: kirk.hunter**At_Symbol_Here**tstc.edu

On Mon, Apr 10, 2017 at 11:51 PM, Wilhelm, Monique <mwilhelm**At_Symbol_Here**umflint.edu> wrote:
Hello Safe Ones,

I have a question related to the recent ACS meeting: Are live demos performed at ACS meetings reviewed for safety before they are approved to be done? I know there was an approval process for the Demo Exchange this year, but do not know if safety was part of it.

I ask because this is the second year in a row where my students have come back to tell me the horror they felt seeing what others were doing. Last year it was liquid nitrogen explosions with only safety glasses as PPE during a workshop. This year it was a video of "Flaming Snowballs" being presented as a demo at the Demo Exchange. I do not have the exact video or know what chapter was showing it. You can see an example of these Flaming Snowballs here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Krh2VJ_WTpI. I have not personally seen the exact video that was shown at this year's meeting. However, my students did specifically point out lack of PPE, even though my bigger concern was throwing a flaming ball around. I am glad that my students can identify the problems with such things, but do worry about the influence on other students who may not have as much safety knowledge (especially considering I will have a new group of chemists in training to take with me when my cu!
rrent gr!
oup graduates next year).

Has anyone else seen these demos being done or shared these concerns?

Thanks,
Monique Wilhelm
Laboratory Manager/Adjunct Lecturer/Chem Club Co-Advisor
Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry
University of Michigan-Flint
Flint, MI 48502

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This e-mail is from DCHAS-L, the e-mail list of the ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety.
For more information about the list, contact the Divisional secretary at secretary**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org