Building a Sustainable Student-Led Model To Promote Research Safety in Academic Laboratories

Abstract

Promote Research Safety in Academic Laboratories A cademic research safety has received renewed attention since several major accidents occurred in academic laboratories in the 2000s. Accidents reported in academic laboratories, such as the flash fire at UCLA in 2008, have prompted not only the formation of institutional safety organizations including the UC Center for Laboratory Safety, but also national meetings that focus on fostering a stronger sense of safety in academia. This refreshed emphasis on safe-work practices has made safety an essential component of the holistic education for modern scientists. The conventional tactic of enforcing safety at academic institutions involves a top-down approach of instituting administrative measures, which can range from mandatory onboarding safety trainings to annual safety inspections. However, such an approach has met mixed levels of success. In response to the call for change in research safety culture, a complementary bottom-up approach was introduced through safety teams. This new approach quickly developed, and analogous activities started sprouting throughout the United States. In 2012, the first student-led Joint Safety Team (JST) was launched from a partnership between the University of Minnesota (UMN) and Dow. Building on the successful partnership with UMN, Dow invited graduate students from two additional institutions, Northwestern University and the University of Chicago, to participate in the second Dow Lab Safety Academy in October 2017. The high safety standard at Dow and the impactful outcome that the JST brought to UMN planted a seed among the Northwestern group to form a similar student safety team. At Northwestern, the Research Safety Office consists of Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) specialists who work to ensure the safety of all research personnel. Because of the invisible yet unbridgeable barrier between university administration and the research community, the Research Safety Office faces similar challenges to other institutions with top-down approaches. Obstacles, such as a reluctance to cooperate from researchers, severely hinder the implementation of safety policies. In efforts to advance the research community at Northwestern toward a more mature safety culture, we launched Research Safety Student Initiative (RSSI) at the end of October 2017, shortly after returning from the Dow Lab Safety Academy. The mission of RSSI is “to develop and promote a stronger culture of safety across research laboratories at Northwestern University through an increased awareness of safety hazards and a more positive mindset towards safe laboratory practices. In conjunction with Research Safety, we aim to encourage University-wide commitment to safety by providing education, resources, and training.” Several key factors integral to the initial success and continual evolution of a new student-led safety team include student leadership, researcher participation, administrative support, support from external companies, and interactions with other student safety teams (Figure 1). Here, we share the essential elements for forming a successful student-led safety team and the strategies employed in developing RSSI initiatives, as we believe that our experiences can be readily translated to other institutions to raise safety awareness through similar student-led efforts. As a student initiative, a strong student leadership ties the entire organization together. Students who possess a passion