Abstract: At approximately 5:55 p.m. on December 11, 1996, Employee #1, a chemist with Kelatron, Inc., was using a Perkin-Elmer atomic absorption spectrometer, model 603, to run a boron assay in his company's quality control laboratory. During the course of this process, a glass waste bottle exploded. Employee #1 was struck by flying glass fragments, suffering minor cuts and burns to his lower legs. He also sustained facial cuts from an overhead light that fell as a result of the explosion, and a bruised eardrum and hearing loss from the explosion itself. Apparently, the drain tube trap was not properly filled with water, which allowed acetylene gas to flow and accumulate in the waste bottle. The source of ignition was most likely static.