Creating a safety culture in academic laboratories
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OPINION
Creating a safety culture in academic laboratories Gary L. Messing
W
hen we began the process of raising our laboratory safety standards in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering (MatSE) at The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) in 2008, we had no idea the implementation of an effective safety program would be so challenging. But changing a culture takes more than lip service; it requires an unequivocal commitment of time, strong leadership, resources, and ideas from staff, faculty, and students. Now our efforts of enhanced safety awareness are spreading across the Penn State campus, and as a result of our experience, we have been able to help other laboratories and organizations accelerate the change from a safety-when-convenient perspective, that is, the old way, to a safety-first mentality—the only way forward. The process for change began when, despite our department’s already heavily invested efforts in laboratory safety, we realized the inadequacy of our approach. The highly publicized tragedy in a chemistry laboratory at the University of California–Los Angeles in 2008, in which a 23-year-old research assistant lost her life due to inadequate training and safety practices,1 only served to bring into sharper focus the need for a total commitment to making safety as high a priority for our department as research success has always been. Among our first steps was to reach out to our external advisory board (EAB), a group of leaders from industry, academia, and government laboratories. Input from industry and government laboratory leaders was crucial, as they embrace safety in a way that the best of academia has not. The EAB members brought with them the rigorous safety practices and worker training programs that are typical in industry laboratories,
Gary L. Messing, The Pennsylvania State University
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MRS BULLETIN
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VOLUME 38 • AUGUST 2013
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along with an attitude of safety first and constant evaluation and improvement of safety practices. They advised us on ways to improve our physical facilities, train laboratory personnel, maintain safety documentation, and instill an approach to research that is steeped in safety. In addition, Owens Corning and Dow Chemical provided their experts to evaluate our safety practices and to give us advice on how to effect real change. James Loftus from Owens Corning and chair of the EAB is a vocal participant on our board and is enthusiastic about bringing the company’s experiences with safety to Penn State. He gave a seminar to our graduate students about the importance of safety and invited Donald Hurd, the Owens Corning safety officer, to review our laboratories and processes. Our EAB members also provide inspections during the semi-annual board meetings to provide us with direct feedback about weaknesses and strengths in our safety procedures. Dow Chemical’s involvement was prompted by a recently initiated research program at Penn State. They wanted to ensure that their sponsored research was being conducted in a safe manner commensur
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