Caroline M. Donaghy, Adelina Oronova, Aishanee Sur, Daniel D. Hu, Emily E. A. Robinson, E. Rachel Wiley, Noah J. Gibson, Sarah Mutchek, Brady L. Bresnahan, Hossain Shadman, Abbigayle E. Cuomo, Christy Lynn Dyer, Mariya Aleksich, Monica Nyansa
{"title":"Empowering Student Laboratory Safety Officer Programs to Strengthen Academic Safety Culture","authors":"Caroline M. Donaghy, Adelina Oronova, Aishanee Sur, Daniel D. Hu, Emily E. A. Robinson, E. Rachel Wiley, Noah J. Gibson, Sarah Mutchek, Brady L. Bresnahan, Hossain Shadman, Abbigayle E. Cuomo, Christy Lynn Dyer, Mariya Aleksich, Monica Nyansa","doi":"10.1021/acs.chas.3c00103","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"A student Laboratory Safety Officer (LSO) program formalizes a position often found within academic institutions. Through clearly defined responsibilities and effective communication between an LSO and their principal investigators, environmental health and safety office, and department administrators, this program can be effectively used to establish a baseline for safety standards. This article outlines pathways for an institution to establish or strengthen a student LSO program. The strength within this program goes beyond defined responsibilities, where the program’s initiatives can deepen a department-wide community while improving access to resources and advancing leadership skills. The common hurdles faced by these programs are discussed at length for new and existing programs to gain insights into how to address those obstacles while also elucidating the pathways to empower the program. Faculty and student buy-in is fundamental for the success of this program, which often is best addressed by giving visibility to the program itself and its outstanding participants. This article gives an overview of laboratory safety teams (LSTs), a separate graduate student-led laboratory safety initiative, and how an LST can be used to support and even serve as an LSO program. The implementation of a student LSO program has the potential to foster a greater sense of community and safety culture within a department, while giving students the opportunity to enhance their leadership and laboratory skills.","PeriodicalId":12,"journal":{"name":"ACS Chemical Health & Safety","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.9000,"publicationDate":"2024-05-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"ACS Chemical Health & Safety","FirstCategoryId":"1","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.chas.3c00103","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
A student Laboratory Safety Officer (LSO) program formalizes a position often found within academic institutions. Through clearly defined responsibilities and effective communication between an LSO and their principal investigators, environmental health and safety office, and department administrators, this program can be effectively used to establish a baseline for safety standards. This article outlines pathways for an institution to establish or strengthen a student LSO program. The strength within this program goes beyond defined responsibilities, where the program’s initiatives can deepen a department-wide community while improving access to resources and advancing leadership skills. The common hurdles faced by these programs are discussed at length for new and existing programs to gain insights into how to address those obstacles while also elucidating the pathways to empower the program. Faculty and student buy-in is fundamental for the success of this program, which often is best addressed by giving visibility to the program itself and its outstanding participants. This article gives an overview of laboratory safety teams (LSTs), a separate graduate student-led laboratory safety initiative, and how an LST can be used to support and even serve as an LSO program. The implementation of a student LSO program has the potential to foster a greater sense of community and safety culture within a department, while giving students the opportunity to enhance their leadership and laboratory skills.
期刊介绍:
The Journal of Chemical Health and Safety focuses on news, information, and ideas relating to issues and advances in chemical health and safety. The Journal of Chemical Health and Safety covers up-to-the minute, in-depth views of safety issues ranging from OSHA and EPA regulations to the safe handling of hazardous waste, from the latest innovations in effective chemical hygiene practices to the courts'' most recent rulings on safety-related lawsuits. The Journal of Chemical Health and Safety presents real-world information that health, safety and environmental professionals and others responsible for the safety of their workplaces can put to use right away, identifying potential and developing safety concerns before they do real harm.