Yale At Fault in Student Death: OSHA

Federal safety regulators say a piece of machinery that killed a Yale University student lacked required safeguards.

Michele Dufault, a senior, was killed April 12 when her hair was pulled into a fast-spinning lathe as she worked alone in a machine shop.

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration wrote in a letter to Yale that the lathe lacked an emergency stop button that could shut off power. The Associated Press obtained a copy of the letter Tuesday through a Freedom of Information Act request.

The OSHA letter said rules for using the equipment were not posted. It also says Yale should ensure students don’t work alone.

OSHA didn’t fine Yale, saying it lacked jurisdiction.

A message for a Yale spokesman was not immediately returned.

Topics Workers' Compensation