Close encounter with laboratory mishap

Research laboratories can be extremely dangerous workplaces if they are not monitored with caution. They’re home to toxic substances, chemicals, reactive compounds, infectious pathogens, radioactive isotopes, and numerous other materials that can be extremely harmful. Even with proper training and sound safety practices, accidents do happen if workers aren’t extremely diligent. There are many things in a laboratory that can cause accidents which is why scientists and students are often given induction training when they first begin to use the lab. This is extremely important to ensure the users are aware of all the potential hazards so they can avoid an accident. But it is also vital that everyone must know exactly where they exits are, where the fire extinguishers are located and what to do in the case of emergency.
There is always a risk of an accident, no matter how strictly a company adheres to stringent health and safety measures. The last thing you want to become is an example of what not to do. But that’s exactly what happen in my lab today. We were so close to a mishap that was curbed before it was too late. A fire could have sparked from the dryer oven in our lab if only we would have been negligent. It was close to mid-day when I and my colleague sense something amiss when we started getting a strong whiff of burnt plastics as we walk into the lab corridor. This is far than usual. Our hunch was right when my colleague much to her horror found several plastic tips boxes melted through the bottom rack of the dryer oven. What are left behind the rack were thread-like substances protruding inwards facing the heating element.
As immediate to respond in case of mishap, she quickly switched off the dryer and informed the other lab mates. We both dashed to the dryer to salvage the remaining boxes and also to scrape of the hardened plastic containers from the steel rack. But to no avail. Later on we got to know that this has never happened before as our colleague has dried her items in that bottom rack before and it was totally fine. She was shocked to know this actually happened! However, we should be relieved that we manage to curb the mishap beforehand. All we fear that if this happened during the night when no one was around, a fire would be the risk. We can’t blame the new mate since it was safe to dry their stuffs in the bottom rack. Logically, the bottom shelf is in direct contact to the heating element and inevitably this could explain why the temperature was higher than the above compartments. The manufacturer instructions didn’t state this in their booklet but somehow I never like drying things in the bottom rack due to high temperature and I never like the idea of squatting down to dry my items.
This scenario adds further momentum which calls for a stringent monitoring in safety regulations. A safety culture should be inculcated in the attitude of scientists to improve safety. Most of the labs' safety standards are too lax. A good laboratory practices in safety relies on far more than regular inspections. Each and everyone should have shared responsibility for the safety of everyone doing science in the laboratory. It is the matter of attitude and responsibilities.