Proceedings of the 2021 Workshop on Laboratory Safety: Advancing Safety in Teaching and Research Laboratories

The University of California Center for Laboratory Safety held its fifth biennial Workshop on Laboratory Safety in May of 2021. The Workshops on Laboratory Safety provide a unique forum for researchers and safety professionals to exchange perspectives and ideas. The theme of this year’s workshop was Advancing Safety in Teaching and Research Laboratories. Speakers emphasized the importance of an enlightened leadership style, the significance of integrating risk assessments into the science curriculum, and the impact of human factors on risk minimization. Furthermore, speakers discussed innovative programs to engage Principal Investigators in organizational safety culture and computational approaches for defining the toxicity of chemical compounds. Panels discussed two topics: student-led safety initiatives and the long-term impact of COVID-19 on academic life, research, and lab safety. Finally, 11 workgroups examined current safety topics over the 3 day course of the workshop culminating in final presentations on their recommendations. This paper summarizes all presentations and lists key resources from each discussion.