Great Minds at Work: Are We Giving University Laboratories a Pass on Safety?

BACKGROUND:   University laboratories generally contain an array of hazards, including chemical mixtures, machinery, electrical hazards, radioactive materials and biologicals.  A number of recent accidents in university laboratories in Connecticut, including the death of one graduate student, highlighted the hazardous conditions present in many of these workplaces.

METHODS:   Investigators from the Connecticut Department of Public Health’s Occupational Health Program coordinated with the Environmental Health and Safety staff at a public university in our state to perform on-site hazard assessments in several large engineering laboratories over a six-month period.

RESULTS:   Without exception, significant uncontrolled hazards were present in each of the university laboratories that was inspected.  These hazards included improperly stored chemicals, fire and electrical hazards, unguarded machinery, inadequate egress, and many other notable hazards.  Although many of these violations could be considered mildly to moderately hazardous, many of the hazards we observed would be considered serious or even willful violations by OSHA standards.  In most cases, hazard communication and personal protective equipment was either severely inadequate or non-existent.  Responsibility for safety in these laboratories was most often delegated by the laboratory principal investigator to the most senior graduate assistants, who may or may not have had any formal safety training, were generally unaware of any applicable OSHA laboratory standards, and were only superficially aware of the uncontrolled hazards that were present in their laboratories.

CONCLUSIONS:   Students have a right to study and work in a safe environment, and universities are entrusted to provide that environment.  A lax attitude toward safety seems to have become standard operating procedure in many of our university laboratories, to the detriment of the health and lives of some students and workers.  Public health departments and university officials should demand that researchers accept responsibility for the safety culture in their laboratories and that they make time to be actively involved in safety oversight in the laboratory spaces they maintain.  In addition, universities should provide adequate resources to help researchers improve the culture of safety in these environments.