Yale Student Dies in Terrible Hair-Pulling Lab Accident
- Posted on April 13, 2011 at 7:34pm by
Emily Esfahani Smith
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NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) — A Yale University student nearing graduation was killed inside a school lab when her hair was pulled into a piece of machine-shop equipment, an official said Wednesday.
Michele Dufault, a senior majoring in astronomy, died Tuesday night “in what appears to have been a terrible accident involving a piece of equipment,” school officials said Wednesday. The school said the accident took place inside a chemistry lab machine shop but didn’t say what the equipment was.
“By all reports, Michele was an exceptional young woman, an outstanding student and young scientist, a dear friend and a vibrant member of this community,” Yale Vice President Linda Lorimer wrote in a message to Yale students and faculty. “We will find ways in the next day to gather to celebrate her life and grieve her loss.”
The university told the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration that Dufault was operating the machinery for a senior project when she was killed, according to Kang Yi, an assistant area director for OSHA in Bridgeport, Conn.
OSHA was reviewing jurisdiction in the case and evaluating whether it would conduct an inspection, said Ted Fitzgerald, an agency spokesman in Boston.
Dufault was from Scituate, Mass., and was graduating in a month, said her grandfather Robert Dufault. She studied constantly and loved sports, he said.
“She was a living saint,” the grandfather said. “She was a good, smart girl.”
An uncle called her brilliant.
“She’s a wonderful, wonderful kid and that should be celebrated. There’s nothing but good things to say about her,” said Frederick Dufault of Holliston, Mass.
On its website, Yale’s chemistry department says it maintains a state-of-the-art machine shop to allow students, faculty and staff to construct or modify research instruments. Access is limited to those who have completed a shop course, according to the website.
Yale was offering counseling to students. The lab was closed Wednesday and classes were canceled in the building that houses the lab.
Yale police are leading the investigation, New Haven police spokesman Joe Avery said.
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Comments (73)
uncivilized
Posted on April 13, 2011 at 9:29pmThis is truly awful. My prayers go out to her family.
Report Post »Most places with industrial equipment post warnings about not wearing watches, bracelets, necklaces, and/or long hair around machinery. I got my hair caught in a small pneumatic drill chuck once, before I could release the trigger it had rolled all the way up to (and into) my forehead. I learned my lesson.
RugDog
Posted on April 13, 2011 at 9:26pm*Speechless*
Report Post »sing it out
Posted on April 13, 2011 at 9:22pmThat is uncalled for.
Report Post »Lt_Taz
Posted on April 13, 2011 at 9:18pmMay her soul and all of the souls of the faithfully departed rest in peace amen. May her family find peace and joy, may the good Lord grant them peace.
Report Post »Karzak
Posted on April 13, 2011 at 9:13pmShe was “brilliant” but she couldn’t keep her hair out of a wood lathe? And she was working alone?
Report Post »smokie
Posted on April 14, 2011 at 1:34amI always wear safety glasses due to a shopkeep at a woodworking store. He had been making furniture for thirty years, and in one lax moment, lost his eye.
Report Post »I, too, worked in a machine shop, but instead of tying back my hair, I cut it all off.
robx
Posted on April 14, 2011 at 5:32amI doubt seriously that it was a wood lathe! I would imagine it was a metal lathe, and probably a considerable one being that they did work for Woods Hole and NASA. For those asking how someone smart could do something dumb. First you have done dumb things too! The errors just didnt line up in the right way to take your life, but I bet it was close, and you will never know how close. Accidents are always a serious of small events that all have to line up in just the right way to cause the accident. You dont know maybe she was wearing a hat and when she bent over the hat fell off and her hair fell on the moving parts. You have no idea what might have been the circumstances of this accident.
But I do have a belief that you are always in the most danger when you are the most confident. Self-doubt offers more protection than a hard hat! To put in urban vernacular. Dah mo ya thank yo S**t dont stank, the more likely you are to step‘n ya’own S**t.
Report Post »Karzak
Posted on April 14, 2011 at 4:29pmIt was a wood lathe, not a metal lathe, her hair was pulled in and she asphyxiated, her neck wasn’t broken, and it was in the middle of the night when she was alone.
There are unanswered questions though, was she sober? What was she making alone in the middle of the night?
It’s darwin award stuff. The sad part is they will blame the process, and now people smart enough to work a lathe without killing themselves will be denied access to one due to this girl.
Report Post »MommaGrizzly
Posted on April 13, 2011 at 9:03pmHeartbreaking. My prayers to her family.
Report Post »donh2
Posted on April 13, 2011 at 8:50pmWhat student would be working late at night on campus machine shop lathe???? I think Yale is covering up yet another serial killer.
Report Post »usually_right
Posted on April 13, 2011 at 8:46pmI guess we need to ban lathes.
Report Post »USMCRETIRED2001
Posted on April 13, 2011 at 8:32pmAt a premier learning institute and was probably never educated on safety procedures regarding operation of machines in that environment, safety first, what a shame.. these things are so easy to prevent
Report Post »BetsyRoss1
Posted on April 13, 2011 at 8:29pmPrayers to her family and friends what terrible loss.
Report Post »TJexcite
Posted on April 13, 2011 at 8:29pm# 437 – Hair Spin
1000 ways to die.
Report Post »donh2
Posted on April 13, 2011 at 8:59pmCome to Yale ..No other University offers you the opportunity to be the subject of a CSI plot…The only school that offers you the thrill of living under the shadow of an untimely death …The Home of Skull and Bones….where you have a 1 in 322 chance of entering but you may never leave…
Report Post »martyw
Posted on April 13, 2011 at 8:21pmOH MY. was osha sleeping on the job like tsa…… blame it on BUSH as always
Report Post »hflndrs
Posted on April 13, 2011 at 8:11pmPrayers to the family, fellow students and faculty.
Report Post »My grandfather had a machine shop in his basement, several lathes, drill presses, bandsaws, it was a full shop. I remember him telling me about an incident like this at a shop he had worked at. His rule was nothing loose in the shop. No shirt sleeves or necklaces, nothing that would get caught.
Psychosis
Posted on April 13, 2011 at 8:10pmyou cant teach common sense, and why in the world is it called common sense when it is so rare ?
Report Post »psycodad36
Posted on April 13, 2011 at 8:38pmgood point,(but I still feel sorrow for her and her family).
Report Post »Transmogrifier
Posted on April 13, 2011 at 8:08pmThe machine shop safety course that it sounds like she was required to take would have told her not secure long hair and loose clothing. What a shame.
Report Post »Transmogrifier
Posted on April 13, 2011 at 8:09pmtold her *to*
Report Post »LadyIzShy
Posted on April 13, 2011 at 8:06pmprayers for her family and friends
Report Post »parlayer
Posted on April 13, 2011 at 8:01pmAround Machinery is no place for complacincy.
Report Post »mrmikejohnson
Posted on April 13, 2011 at 8:01pmWow! That’s shocking!
Report Post »free2bme1961
Posted on April 13, 2011 at 8:00pmThis is such a shame. I knew of a guy who had long hair and it got pulled into some machinery too. He lived to tell about it, so he didn’t have it as bad as the young girl and her family. I think this happened to him back in the 1970′s.
Report Post »SIHKS1120
Posted on April 13, 2011 at 8:00pmfreaky accident!! or a real boneheaded move!!!
parlayer
Posted on April 13, 2011 at 7:58pmTo bad she had no education about that kind of situation, No rings, hair tied up, no chains around the neck, and a few more
Report Post »walkwithme1966
Posted on April 13, 2011 at 10:26pmHey, maybe she did and the accident still happened. You do not know what happened so pray for her family and stop making callous remarks! http:.//maboulette.wordpress.com
Report Post »sickofthelibs
Posted on April 14, 2011 at 7:47amThey have to complete a course in the use of this equipment. It appears to be a careless, fatal mistake. Our prayers go out to her family and friends at this time
Report Post »Str8talk
Posted on April 13, 2011 at 7:49pmIt sad and a terrible tragedy I agree. But one thing bothers me, if she was so smart why did she allow her hair to get caught in the machinery in the first place? Most shop equipment have emergency shut-off switches within reach of the operator, so why did she not use this? Either the girl was not using common sense or the shop is severly deficent of safety procedures. The laws of evolution have won again.
Report Post »RightPolitically
Posted on April 13, 2011 at 7:59pmShow a little compassion. I‘m sure she didn’t want to die and would have shut the damn thing off if she could have. Most likely she was in a state of panic and confusion when it occurred. Haven’t you EVER made a mistake?
Report Post »Islesfordian
Posted on April 13, 2011 at 8:13pmEmergency shut offs are useless when you get something caught in a lathe or drill press. You have no time to react. It happens very quickly. People make mistakes all the time. Some don’t kill you. This one did. Very tragic. My heart breaks for her family. She looked like a sweet girl.
Report Post »ImWatchingYouAll
Posted on April 13, 2011 at 9:29pmwhen you get caught in machinery, you are too surprised and in a battle for your life, hand , arm etc to even be able to yell, let alone hit a E button. I know. My sleeve was wrapped up in a Bridgeport, and all I could do was push away till my shirt was ripped off. My Co-worker heard the belt “squeak” and came running to hit the switch.
Report Post »thejackal
Posted on April 13, 2011 at 10:54pmYou obviously don’t know much about machine shops. Look up what a lathe is, I’m not going to explain it to you. Most have a large safety that you stand on, if you step off it, it kills the lathe. If you have long hair and are turning a part at high speed, depending on the material of course. If your hair gets caught on the chuck or wrapped around the spindle, it will suck you in break your neck and rip your face off before you can say boo! The safety is only for people that have their arms ripped off.
Report Post »CATAMOUNT
Posted on April 13, 2011 at 7:43pmOur thoughts and prayers go out to her family and friends. Soo horrible!!!
Report Post »ladyda
Posted on April 13, 2011 at 7:41pmHow awful. I see her long hair, (I have too) all machinery is dangerous & long hair should be kept up tight with no ends hanging. Bad things can happen way too quickly. My condolences to her family.
Report Post »afflicted
Posted on April 13, 2011 at 7:36pmHorrible. Prayers to her family
Report Post »Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra
Posted on April 13, 2011 at 7:53pmWay back when my hair was really long, I always wore a bandana or hat to keep it out of machinery. In fact my foreman warned everyone with long hair about it getting pulled into machinery. It should be part of every safety briefing in that lab.
Terrible accident, but not unusual in the machinists field.
Report Post »Showtime
Posted on April 13, 2011 at 8:00pmYears ago I owned a car wash and had to work on the pumps occasionally. My hair was long, and someone had to caution me about getting my hair caught in the pully and belt. I stood up, put it into a twist on the back of my head, and I never went into the equipment room with my hair down loose again.
You guys with long hair who work on your cars, the same thing applies.
Report Post »CatB
Posted on April 13, 2011 at 8:01pmSo sad .. I remember just walking through a shop and pulling my hair back and up .. because I had heard of things like this happening … prayers to her family and friends.
Report Post »pappy
Posted on April 13, 2011 at 8:01pmPrayers to her family.
Report Post »I recall hi school machine shop. The instructor passed around a book with real accidents. One of the photos was of a young fella whose hair got hung up in a drill press & yanked out a 4 inch diameter piece of scalp.
More than enough to make me wanna tie it back AND put it under a hat.
Happy Killmore
Posted on April 13, 2011 at 8:20pmWhat a beautiful young woman. What a loss. This is so sad.
Report Post »LIBSALWAYSLIE
Posted on April 13, 2011 at 8:48pmSo sad. My prayers go out to the family
I’ve been working around machinery for almost 30 years, Its standard osha policy to have long hair pulled up, no lose clothing, etc. The school should teach proper safety, then strictly enforce the rules.
Report Post »banjarmon
Posted on April 13, 2011 at 10:20pmLess than one SECOND of not paying attention can take your life or leave you maimed for life.
Report Post »Melanie
Posted on April 13, 2011 at 11:24pmVery sorry for this family’s loss.
Report Post »nosycophant
Posted on April 13, 2011 at 11:28pmNever roll up sleeves always wear short sleeves around rotating machinery.
Report Post »