Proceedings of the 2018 Laboratory Safety Workshop: Hazard and Risk Management in the Laboratory

• Published in: ACS Chemical Health & Safety. 2020-03, Vol.27 (2), p.96-104
• Main Authors: Schröder, Imke, Czornyj, Elizabeth, Blayney, Michael B, Wayne, Nancy L, Merlic, Craig A
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1871-5532; 1878-0504
• DOI: 10.1021/acs.chas.0c00012

Identifying hazards and assessing associated risks can be a considerable challenge for researchers in universities and colleges. Neglecting risk management is generally one of the factors leading to sometimes catastrophic incidents in research laboratories. The 2018 Workshop on Laboratory Safety on Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment, held in Chicago, IL, on May 6 to 8, 2018, provided a venue for brainstorming and discussing practical means of implementing risk management in the academic research environment. In addition to specific recommendations from keynote speakers, output from workgroups focused on seven aspects of hazard and risk management is presented. The output includes actionable ideas to improve research safety for constituents such as university leaders, principal investigators, EH&S professionals, and research staff and students. Researchers and Environment Health and Safety professionals from academic institutions as well as National Laboratories, industry, and some government organizations contributed their insights through hands-on workgroup sessions, panel discussions, and speaker presentations. The workshop videos and presentations are available online.