Posted on 06/26/2023 7:18:46 AM PDT by ChicagoConservative27
It could be the plot of a dark comedy if it weren’t a science tragedy.
A janitor working in a laboratory who was annoyed by an incessant beep reportedly flipped a switch that killed the noise — but also shut off a storage freezer, destroying decades of scientific work, according to the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute lab in Troy.
The cleaner’s alleged carelessness cost the lab at least $1 million in damages, a lawsuit the university filed against its third-party cleaning service charges.
“People’s behavior and negligence caused all this,” Michael Ginsberg, RPI’s attorney, told the Times Union in Albany. “Unfortunately, they wiped out 25 years of research.”
The super-cold freezer the custodial worker allegedly shut down held cell cultures, samples, and other elements stored at minus-112 degrees Fahrenheit, the Times Union said.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Bingo. I have worked in an environment where every instrument manufacturer wanted the most obnoxious noise maker they could get.
There was masking tape over some of them.
A million to replicate the work - and it was unpublished?
Rensselaer Institute needed to pack up and leave Troy New York decades ago.
Troy New York needed to be packed up right afterwards.
Looks like bad design. That one switch effectively routed around all of their safety protocols. Assuming that they had any.
Too funny! At least residential units do try to keep quiet when no one is messing with them.
They could have filled the walls with the sign in one hundred and fifty languages—may have worked.
;-)
Looks like bad design. That one switch effectively routed around all of their safety protocols. Assuming that they had any.
Indeed, in our data center, critical switches have a locked cover to prevent this kind of situation.
The ‘janitor’ probably destroyed decades of government ‘research’ money grift.
(evidence)
That’s the risk a company takes when they hire based upon “diversity” rather than on merit, experience, and abilities. The company hired a janitor with apparent little skills in reading and understanding English. Janitorial staff have to resolve many issues and the job is actually more than just emptying garbage cans.
This janitor just wanted to be rid of the annoying beeping sound and apparently was unable to read the notice on the freezer explaining the issue and how to resolve it. And, that shutting off the power to the freezer was the one thing NOT to do.
How the heck do you come up with those far side memes so quickly? I’m thinking you are really a super computer.
If you’re going to do elaborate lab experiments, DO NOT have a large red button marked “Self Destruct” on a prominent location on a console.
This is to protect a few thousand dollars of produce.
There is also insurance in case of extended power failure.
This lab did not have ANY of these precautions that are taken by tiny businesses?
I am not going to say they deserve what happened to them but I will say it was inevitable.
One million dollars? Was it William Jefferson’s freezer?
It’s like the “tic toc” signal at Sellafield in Great Britain they broadcast over the PA system. I’d have to go home and stick my head in the oven after 1 day there.
Or at least a little sign above the switch that says "Do Not Turn Off".
Yes, this is just as much an administrative failure. Perhaps more.
1) Train all personnel w/ access to the area.
2) A reliable UPS.
3) No one should be able to accidently power off a critical device. Power should be maintained until a passworded individual performs a shutdown procedure.
4) In the event of a loss of power, audible alarms should sound, system messages pop up, emergency emails get sent, smart phones ring...
5) More of 1 thru 4.
Probably just smallpox gain of function research.....
In just such an episode of Kolchak: The Night Stalker, a freezer malfunctioned, forzen cells from the Arctic thawed out and grew into a nasty Bigfoot type of creature with a surly disposition.
Carl was able to save all, as he did weekly.
Duct tape in in the ON position.
Hmm. Pissedoffjanitor .
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