COSI is reviewing its safety protocols following a May 2 science festival where an audience member was struck by a container launched high in the air as part of a science demonstration.
“During the demonstration, a prop came into contact with a guest who was immediately assisted by COSI team members and onsite EMS from the Columbus Division of Fire. No serious injuries were reported,” COSI said in a statement. “Out of an abundance of caution, we are conducting a comprehensive review of our protocols, equipment, and training to ensure safety standards are applied consistently across every experience we offer.”
A review of videos from the event provided to the Dispatch shows the crowd outside COSI’s entrance counting down the finale of the COSI Science Festival, amid large tubs filled with colored powder, streamers and plastic balls ready to explode like rockets when a liquid was poured in.
“Wait for it. Wait for it. It could happen any second,” the event’s master of ceremonies is heard saying, in one of the videos.
Loud blasts and clouds of smoke erupted with the tub contents flying into the sky. At least one of the tubs can be seen airborne. The video does not directly show the patron being struck, but it is the event that prompted the science museum’s safety review.
In a separate video posted to Imgur, COSI staff surround the patron and block cell phone recording of the aftermath. Asked in the video what had happened, a staffer is heard replying “Because people were too close to the explosions.”
COSI did not answer specific questions about crowd placement, use of safety equipment or the staffer’s response about audience proximity.
In an earlier message, COSI said that its science experiences are “grounded in written safety protocols, trained team members, and ongoing refinement, with safety as our top priority. We take this responsibility seriously and continually review our protocols as part of our ongoing commitment to continuous improvement and safety.”
December event raises safety concerns from experts
Safety experts contacted by The Dispatch reviewed the May 2 video and another incident from December and expressed concerns about each.
At a New Year’s Eve celebration in December, flasks of liquid nitrogen were poured onto a small stage inside the COSI atrium, causing an eerie haze, per a separate video provided to the Dispatch.
Families closed in for the best look as COSI staff filled containers with the cryogenic liquid. Some of it was poured directly into the audience as pure vaporized nitrogen.
The spectacle was eye catching, but science safety experts who reviewed video of the event raised questions about its safety procedures.
James Palcik, chief education officer with Phoenix, Ariz.-based Safer STEM, was alarmed, watching the COSI employee raise the double-walled Dewer flask, used to dispense cryogenic liquids, over his shoulder and began pouring.
Palcik’s job is to ensure that science demonstrations like this are safe in public and academic settings. Had he witnessed the display in person, “I would have intervened, or at a minimum pushed the crowd back from that nitrogen pouring out over those kids,” he said.
Liquid nitrogen (LN2) vaporizes at normal temperatures into nitrogen gas, colorless, odorless, and tasteless. It can rapidly displace oxygen in enclosed environments. Pouring the gas directly into the faces of children can lead to dizziness or unconsciousness “in just one or two breaths,” according to the U.S. Chemical Safety Board. Inhaling the vapors “can cause severe burns to your nose, throat, and lungs, or trigger acute breathing difficulties like asthma attacks.”
When the employee held the flask above his shoulder, and poured it behind his back while spinning the crowd cheered louder. Palcik’s concern grew.
“It’s punchy and powerful, but it’s completely unsafe,” Palcik said of the performance, describing it as “prioritizing spectacle over safety.”
From the video, Palcik cited what he said would have been numerous Occupational Safety and Health Administration violations, including improper face masks and gloves, inappropriate containers and handling procedures and close contact with observers.
“They’re putting that right in their faces,” he said of vapors poured over children. “When I see something like this, there’s foreseeable and preventable risk.”
“That is a very unsafe practice. Anytime you can’t see what you are doing, that is a huge red flag,” said Eddie Charles Cohen, a Rutgers University professor who consults with schools, museums, and education organizations to provide safe, research-based best practices for learning.
The surrounding children are “way too close to the experiment, and even part of it, as staff walk around and pour liquid nitrogen over their heads. This should never be done,” Cohen said, noting that spectators should be at least 10 feet from the demonstration in case of splashing or an accident.
In another Instagram video of the May 2 science festival, Cameron Fontana, an ABC-6 TV personality, is seen helping to activate the explosion of balls in a tub. Holding a microphone, he recoils from the blast.
Cohen said “the gentleman has no PPE (personal protection equipment) that is visible at all,” calling it “A more dangerous ‘liquid nitrogen bomb’ experiment.”
Fontana did not immediately respond to a call from the Dispatch for questions.
“Liquid nitrogen is not a toy, a magic trick, or a social media prop,” said Cohen. “It is a cryogenic chemical capable of causing catastrophic burns, pressure explosions, oxygen displacement, and permanent injury in seconds when basic safety protocols are ignored.”
Earlier this year, COSI laid off about 40% of its education staff, citing low attendance at the museum and financial struggles.
A second message from COSI stated, “We are committed to taking every necessary step to ensure the safety of our guests and team members.”
dnarciso@dispatch.com
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: COSI to review science demonstration safety protocols after guest struck
Reporting by Dean Narciso, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
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