Join us to welcome Dr. Dan Kuespert to DMSE for the first seminar of the fall series on August 28th at 3pm in Maryland Hall room 110.
Abstract: “Six Myths I Used to Believe About Safety”
We all have implicit beliefs about safety, like “PPE will make me invulnerable,” that are not true. We will talk about six fallacious safety beliefs, each illustrated with a real incident (some of which happened to the speaker!). We will draw simple lessons from the stories, but we will also consider broader, more subtle things to learn from them. Come learn from an explosion in Maryland Hall, mercury poisoning of a professor, and a death by chewing gum!
Bio: Dr. Daniel R. Kuespert, Certified Safety Professional Director, Core Facilities & Safety, WSE Office of Research & Translation
Daniel Kuespert is the Director of Core Facilities & Safety for Johns Hopkins Engineering, providing safety information and consulting to both the School of Engineering and the School of Arts & Sciences. He holds a PhD in chemical engineering from Johns Hopkins and master’s & bachelor’s degrees in the same field from the University of Maryland, College Park.
Dr. Kuespert’s thirty years in safety include experience in the specialty chemicals industry, where he worked on patented asbestos-destruction technology that won a R&D 100 award in 1999; in the nonprofit sector as Technical Director of the International Institute of Ammonia Refrigeration, a trade association for large refrigerated facilities; in consulting, operating his own chemical process safety consulting firm; and in academia, at Johns Hopkins.
He got his start in safety while still in graduate school, when he was asked to serve as Chemical Hygiene Officer and create a Chemical Hygiene Plan from scratch for Johns Hopkins. He is currently Immediate Past Chair of the Chemical Health & Safety Division of the American Chemical Society, and a division fellow. He is also a Certified Safety Professional.