I saw that on the news last night. Horrific. Poor girl. And it does beggar belief what people will do. Andy

Personally I want to see an attempted manslaughter charge resulting from this.

I wonder if someone from the government would like to comment on this incident with regards to: Business should not be hampered by red tape; Particularly in low risk environments like a bar (as walker has already commented). Another question if safety is just common sense - how come there are so many accidents/incidents?

http://www.dailymail.co....-Carvery-restaurant.html and bars even sell you poisons if you ask.... In fact it's encouraged! I am now thinking taking loads of dry ice out to the pub might have looked cool - but maybe wasn't the best of ideas - I might also reconsider some of the Heston recipes I was going to try....

Instilling vodka? (I have heard of worse from a student but totally unrepeatable on a forum - one of the few times ever that I have been speechless!!) Entonox? Vapourised Ethanol? Dry Ice? Oh no wait - they've all be done! :( Sad times - now I have nothing against these trends and as a scientist have experimented too, however does the old chestnut of risk assessment apply! In theory - you are not meant to drink the liquid nitrogen - it's just used to rapidly chill the drink...

I think that ones been trendy since at least the 16C.

http://chemistry.about.c...With-Liquid-Nitrogen.htm See point 7 re how to use liquid nitrogen to make a drink "cool". I have seen it on youtube before, folks drinking Liquid N2 from a flask.....but I have also seen Penn and Teller shoot each other and catch the bullets in their respective mouths...I think they may both be tricks. Meanwhile in real life..... LN2 is mixed with Guinness to make Canned Draught Guinness that’s what makes the widget work and give it a creamy head when opened and poured. So in industry we mix LN2 with drinks but its a matter of competence with regards to how much, timing, when and under what conditions. Obviously the Liquid N2 is just gaseous N2 by the time you come to drink it and about 4 degrees centigrade. Still hard to believe. I hope Ms Scanlon makes as full a recovery as possible. Jeff

Don't quite know where you are coming from. This was common sense was it?

sigh! OK Irwin Matey, I'll spell it out to you: The post was entirely ironic/sarcastic

It's certainly not my cup of tea, pun intended! Out of interest re #4, can you have or be charged with attempted manslaughter?

Ah teh_boy, dry ice is not liquid nitrogen, it's solid carbon dioxide. Not as cold but still dangerous.

Didn't read the earlier posts, so, did not know that there seems to be no charge for attempted manslaughter, thus AFAIAC attempted murder then, because anyone doing this must have known the consequences. NO If's No but's, if you are playing with this stuff then you MUST be COMPETENT, and this means knowing what it can do, thus, you are culpable if you muck up. It kills end of story, thus the server of the drink must be held to task as must the company management. Just because it is only a single person, does not make it any easier on their family, ask the family or Emma Shaw...

My 18 year old had only told me the day before this broke in the news that he had, had it in Liverpool. I was trying to explain the dangers but this certainly got the message across. It's sad that quite often it takes a tragic event to highlight the dangers, even though we try and highlight them through the risk assessment process.

So, an 18 year old girl out on her 18th birthday who is arguably inexperienced in the world of bars should have the common sense to know that what she is about to drink might mean having her stomach removed? This girl had every right to presume she would be safe in the surroundings that she was in. And you don't think the bar owed her a duty of care? Flabbergasted.

Ian, why is this young person an idiot, because they are young and inexperienced. Don't we as safety people have to look after young people in the workplace because of the same reason or do we just hope they don't put their hands in equipment, use the machinary they have not been trained to use etc or do we do separate risk assessments, training etc to take into the inexperience. I think you have written what you have to get a rise out of people, but as said in other postings your opinion is yours and not that of everyone

I'd be asking the following; - Did the barman warn her not to drink until the fog had completely cleared and / or stir the drink etc? (I remember from my youth drinking Flaming Lambourgini's and being told by the barman not to drink until the flame had been extinguished by placing a bar mat over the glass and to drink it at the bar rather than walking back to my seat with the flaming glass). - Was the barman fully trained to make the drink up? (and / or had he free poured the liquid nitrogen trying to impress a group of young ladies on a "fun" night out? And yes, I've seen barmen free pour LARGE measures for pretty girls and ask for a kiss for the "privilege"). I do feel sorry for the girl, who will be affected for the rest of her life by this incident whether she was warned or not. She was out having fun with her friends on what should have been a celebration. She legally shouldn't have been in a bar before then so may not have been aware of the effect liquid nitrogen could have if swallowed. Her friends may have been urging her to "drink, drink!", she may not have heard what the barman said...his / her warning not to drink etc... So, turns the page of the free Metro paper and sees a micro brewery in Aberdeenshire has bottled a beer called Armageddon which is 65% proof. Of course, no bar in Aberdeen will sell that to the students up there and no student will be stupid enough to drink a whole pint of the stuff (which is something like 37 times the recommended alchohol consumption for an male in a week) either as a bet or as a dare...or unwillingly because his mates have bought him it "for a larf". Course not... [note to Aberdeen A&E staff to have the stomach pumps ready...]

Common sense absolutely,apart from the visual effect who would consider putting a liquid at minus 197 deg C into a drink which from basic physics can expand in ones stomach to x700 in volume ?? Seems common science was not considered as common sense !!! Regards,Paul

You're comparing the risks from cocktail sticks with the risks from liquid nitrogen?????

Ian, I am similarly unconvinced with your comparison of cocktails sticks and the use of liquid nitrogen, as used in this example/injury. However, I would agree with your point on attempted manslaughter, I for one would doubt such an offence exists. 'Logic' would suggest it doesn't. As always, happy to be wrong.

Just a thought on this, i would like to think that the presence on LN2 would take the bar out of the low risk category and result in some higher level of risk assessment and/or inspection.