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Janitor turns off freezer; ruins 20 years worth of research materials
Posted on 6/27/23 at 10:10 am
Posted on 6/27/23 at 10:10 am
quote:
Janitor heard ‘annoying alarms’ and turned off freezer, ruining 20 years of school research worth $1 million, lawsuit says
quote:
A university janitor who turned off a freezer after hearing multiple “annoying alarms,” ruined more than 20 years of research, according to a lawsuit filed against his employer by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in upstate New York.
The janitor, who is not being sued in the lawsuit, was a contractor with Daigle Cleaning Systems Inc., who worked for several months in 2020 at the private research university in Troy, New York.
quote:
The lab’s freezer contained over 20 years of research, including cell cultures and samples, to which a “small temperature fluctuation of three degrees would cause catastrophic damage,” according to the lawsuit filed with the Rensselaer County Supreme Court.
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Posted on 6/27/23 at 10:11 am to StringedInstruments
My bad, just trying to save electricity.
Posted on 6/27/23 at 10:11 am to StringedInstruments
The sign that says "DON'T TURN OFF!!" needed to be written in Spanish as well.
Posted on 6/27/23 at 10:11 am to StringedInstruments
I simple "Do not unplug" note posted above the outlet could have prevented all of this. 
ETA:
ETA:
quote:
“THIS FREEZER IS BEEPING AS IT IS UNDER REPAIR. PLEASE DO NOT MOVE OR UNPLUG IT. NO CLEANING REQUIRED IN THIS AREA. YOU CAN PRESS THE ALARM/TEST MUTE BUTTON FOR 5-10 SECONDS IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO MUTE THE SOUND,” the warning read, according to the suit.
This post was edited on 6/27/23 at 10:17 am
Posted on 6/27/23 at 10:12 am to StringedInstruments
quote:
The lawsuit states that cell cultures and specimens in the freezer needed to be maintained at -80 degrees Celsius and a small fluctuation of 3 degrees would cause damage, so alarms would sound if the temperature increased to -78 degrees or decreased to -82 degrees.
K.V. Lakshmi, a professor and director of the school’s Baruch ’60 Center for Biochemical Solar Energy Research who oversaw the research, noticed the freezer alert went off on or around September 14, 2020, because its temperature had risen to -78 degrees, according to the suit.
Despite the alarm, Lakshmi and her team determined that the cell samples would be safe until emergency repairs could be done, the suit said. While Lakshmi waited for the freezer’s manufacturer to come perform repairs, her team added a safety lock box around the freezer’s outlet and socket. A warning was posted on the freezer, according to the court filing.
“THIS FREEZER IS BEEPING AS IT IS UNDER REPAIR. PLEASE DO NOT MOVE OR UNPLUG IT. NO CLEANING REQUIRED IN THIS AREA. YOU CAN PRESS THE ALARM/TEST MUTE BUTTON FOR 5-10 SECONDS IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO MUTE THE SOUND,” the warning read, according to the suit.
This post was edited on 6/27/23 at 10:18 am
Posted on 6/27/23 at 10:13 am to StringedInstruments
Single point of failure, problem wasn’t with Janitor but researchers who didn’t put in any additional protections for their life’s work.
Posted on 6/27/23 at 10:14 am to StringedInstruments
Posted on 6/27/23 at 10:14 am to BIGJLAW
Doesn’t the left say turn the thermostat to 78F to save energy?
Posted on 6/27/23 at 10:20 am to StringedInstruments
Posted on 6/27/23 at 10:20 am to bad93ex
quote:
Single point of failure, problem wasn’t with Janitor but researchers who didn’t put in any additional protections for their life’s work
This shite here. My freaking taxidermist has an automatic transfer on his emergency generator.
Posted on 6/27/23 at 10:23 am to bad93ex
quote:Yep, talk about putting all your eggs in one basket. Lock box on the outlet but no protections on the breaker?
Single point of failure, problem wasn’t with Janitor but researchers who didn’t put in any additional protections for their life’s work.
So many things wrong here, it's sad that they're suing the fricking cleaning company.
I have to assume the freezer is quite expensive given that they apparently didn't have another one on standby or a replacement couldn't be hot-shotted in. If it's that expensive, and the research that valuable, why is it taking 3+ days for the manufacturer to get around to working on it?
If the freezer had already heated up by 2 of the 3 allowed degrees, why the frick wasn't someone camped out by it 24/7 until it was fixed? If a tripped breaker was going to cost me 20 years, I'd have a sleeping bag and a fricking port-o-john parked next to the thing.
This post was edited on 6/27/23 at 10:35 am
Posted on 6/27/23 at 10:28 am to StringedInstruments
Just doing his part to fight climate change.
Posted on 6/27/23 at 10:32 am to StringedInstruments
Posted on 6/27/23 at 10:32 am to Pax Regis
Posted on 6/27/23 at 11:20 am to Wraytex
Posted on 6/27/23 at 11:23 am to bad93ex
quote:And leaving the alarm set to beep at all when the PI had decided its temperature was actually ok is stupid. If they were willing to accept -78, then the alarm threshold should have been reset higher.
Single point of failure, problem wasn’t with Janitor but researchers who didn’t put in any additional protections for their life’s work.
Would you plant baws accept "just ignore that alarm" as okay?
Posted on 6/27/23 at 11:24 am to StringedInstruments
This janitor may have saved us from the next pandemic.
Posted on 6/27/23 at 11:25 am to StringedInstruments
Maybe have a backup operational
Posted on 6/27/23 at 11:27 am to StringedInstruments
If it saved just ONE carbon footprint then the Janitor should be labeled as a hero
Posted on 6/27/23 at 11:30 am to StringedInstruments
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