by Steve Karlman

If you read our newsletter regularly, you’ll notice that each quarter we give out a Golden Award that recognizes labs for maintaining a high level of safety. As laboratory safety specialist, I’m here to provide information and help labs comply with the laws. The true test is how well a lab can take the information I provide and implement it so the workers inside are safe. Common things I find in these award-winning labs include:

I asked a few of the award-winning lab managers about the "secrets" to managing a safe lab and here’s what I found.

If you ever visit the labs of Dr. Frank Stuart and other investigators in the Department of Surgery, you’ll notice that the laboratory personnel are concerned with safety. They wear lab coats, the labs are clean and organized, they receive regular training, and the chemicals inside the lab are even listed outside the door. The lab manager, Marguerite Buckingham, "takes safety seriously." Having worked in a lab for many years, Buckingham also shares stories of her experiences to help with safety education. Through regular lab discussions and time in each lab she tries to convey the message to all laboratory workers that safety is "serious business."

Another lab that takes safety seriously is the Allergy division under Dr. Roy Patterson. The lab manager, Kathleen Harris, believes vigilance is important. She sees that the rules are enforced and applied equally. Even when laboratory workers notice that other labs don’t enforce the "no shorts and sandals" policy, Harris makes a point of reminding people in her lab that this policy is meant to protect. After seeing the phenol-burned feet of a sandal-wearer after a spill, I whole-heartedly endorse enforcement of the policy. Harris conducts training at least quarterly, to remind lab workers about safety policy or educate them about new laws or policies. She believes it’s important for the lab manager to "provide information for the people." There is a lot of documentation that ORS provides and Harris sifts through it all and trains laboratory personnel with the information that is necessary for their environment.

The labs of Dr. Chung Lee and Dr. Julia Sensibar of Urology are managed safely with help from David Zelner who finds that interpreting information from ORS and providing it to laboratory workers is very important. Annual training and constant reminders help create an atmosphere of safety inside the lab. While many labs dread the annual safety inspection, Zelner uses it as a gauge to determine how to improve safety in his lab. He reminds fellow lab members that ORS is there to help people comply with the myriad of safety laws. Besides, he’d rather "deal with the problem before it becomes a major issue."

These labs have common safety management features as well.

1. One person takes responsibility for safety and brings it into the lab. Each lab has a complete Safety Plan and the blank for "Safety Designate" is not empty.

2. Each of the safety managers benefits from the fact that safety begins at the top. Each lab has a principal investigator who strongly supports safety compliance. Does your investigator attend annual safety training meetings like Dr. Lee and Dr. Sensibar do?

3. Workers in these labs know the rules. The safety designates take the time to read the information ORS provides and distill it into training that is relevant to the lab they work in.

4. The rules are enforced. Though it may be difficult or unpopular, these rules save lives (and vital organs) and safety managers and principal investigators encourage their laboratory personnel to follow them.

5. ORS is used as a resource. I see the safety managers mentioned above more than once a year. They come looking for information, assistance, or even videos for training. We’re more than happy to help.