Workshop 2016

Safety By Design 
Workshop on Laboratory Safety, April 10-12, 2016

This Workshop offered a forum for researchers and EH&S experts to worked together for the common goal of improving laboratory safety at universities and colleges. Speakers and panelists provided their perspectives on topics including creating a culture of research safety, compliance with OSHA regulations, and approaches to safety in academic, industry and government laboratories. Participants were divided into small work groups to develop action items aimed at improving specific areas of lab safety as outlined in the Workshop Program.  The outcomes from Workshop 2016 will be published as a proceedings to promote best practices in laboratory safety.

The specific objectives of Workshop 2016 were:

1. Survey causes of and lessons learned from accidents in research laboratories.
2. Explore ways in which laboratory safety practices can be improved as an integral part of research protocols.
3. Examine the importance of safety culture in improving safe lab activities and decreasing accidents and injuries in the laboratory.

View the Program.

Program Highlights:

• Keynote speaker Dr. David Michaels, Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA
• Dinner speaker Dr. Gene Block, Chancellor of UCLA
• Keynote talk: Promoting a Culture of Safety (NAS Report) by Holden Thorp (University of Washington in St. Louis) Presentation is available for view 
• Release of the 2016 Laboratory Safety APLU Guidelines and Toolkit by Taylor Eighmy (University of Tennessee) Presentation is available for view
• Closing talk presenter: Dr. Mary Beth Mulcahy (U.S. Chemical Safety & Hazard Investigation Board) Presentation is available for view
• Panel discussion on Moving Beyond Lab Accidents
• Session on lab safety in industry and national labs by Dawn Mason (Eastman Chemical Company), Kimberly Jeskie/Joeseph Pickel (Oak Ridge National Laboratory) and Lori Seiler (Dow Chemical Company) Presentations are available for view
• Workshop participants brainstormed in workgroups about ideas for improving lab safety Presentations are available for view

Registration is closed

Attendance was limited to 125 participants.

Meeting Location:  National Institute of Health, Natcher Conference Center, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD  20892

Organizing Committee:

Michael Blayney, Ph.D. (Northwestern University)
Craig Merlic, Ph.D. (UCLA, Dept. of Chemistry & Biochemistry, UC Center for Laboratory Safety)
Derek Newcomer (NIH, Division of Occupational Health and Safety)
Imke Schroeder, Ph.D. (UCLA, UC Center for Laboratory Safety)
Ken Smith (UC Office of the President, UC Center for Laboratory Safety)
Cheryl Warfield (NIH, Division of Occupational Health and Safety)
Nancy Wayne, Ph.D. (UCLA, Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research, UC Center for Laboratory Safety)

We thank the following companies for sponsoring the workshop