CSUDH worker taken to hospital as precaution due to improper lab exposure
An apparent false alarm in the Science and Innovation building overnight on Thursday led to a CSUDH staff worker being taken to the hospital, according to university health and safety officials.
In a campus advisory emailed to Toros on Thursday morning, CSUDH Police said they received an alarm activation at around 1:15 a.m. Emergency crews arrived at the third-floor lab and investigated the alarm as a possible chemical leak, but concluded it was false after evaluating the situation.
“There was no fire nor release of chemicals,” said CSUDH Health and Safety Director Mike Williams. “The local fire department tested the air quality of the building twice, and deemed it safe for entry.”
Before emergency crews arrived on site, Williams said a staff worker had already responded to the alarm in the lab. Justin Hathaway, a CSUDH instructional support technician, said it’s possible for people to feel ill after being in the lab for long periods without the proper equipment or attire.
Williams said the worker was taken to the hospital afterward as a precaution and released “a few hours after transport.”
Hathaway added that the alarms in the lab have been an issue for some time.
“Since the lab opened in the building, the sensor for the alarm has always had problems,” Hathaway said. “There have been a lot of past experiences where the alarm will go off and nothing will be wrong in the lab.”
