WATSON BIO LAB USA proudly supported Lab Safety Awareness Week in alignment with its mission to promote a safer laboratory environment.
We are pleased to share that we have received the activity report from the organizers and would like to present it here.
I’m really curious about the UVM Edition Escape Game…!!
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When most people think of lab safety, they think of a hazardous chemical spill, or some kind of exotic lab acquired infection. Something big, and something dramatic. In reality, lab injuries are often much quieter. Some risks develop gradually, and so getting laboratorians to care about them can often be an uphill battle.
I’m a lab safety coordinator at the University of Vermont, and I work closely with researchers, lab staff, and students to strengthen safety culture in our labs across campus. Outreach is one of the most important aspects of my job, in my opinion, as outreach is what makes safety visible, and actionable in the day-to-day running of labs.
This year, the 9th of February marked the start of CSHEMA’s (Campus Safety, Health, and Environmental Management Association) Lab Safety Awareness Week. With activities such as a virtual escape room, free lab safety resource giveaways, and a campus wide scavenger hunt, the UVM research and academic community came together to focus on laboratory safety. While a dedicated awareness week cannot carry the entire weight of a safety program, it plays a really important role in creating conversations and reinforcing the shared responsibility we all have to prevent injuries in the lab, and alongside regular safety training sessions, lab audits, and
Some of the aspects of lab safety we focused on during the week include chemical storage, engineering controls, and even the hazards present in more “atypical” lab spaces, such as greenhouses and makerspaces. By sharing bite-sized information packets daily with our researchers, we’ve aimed to cover a wide range of basics of lab safety that can sometimes go ignored or forgotten.
By taking part in Lab Safety Awareness Week, we hoped to spread awareness around campus labs and get lab members genuinely interested in lab safety. We received a lot of positive feedback about our “Escape the Lab, UVM Edition” virtual escape room, and people loved the chance to win prizes for personal, or lab group use. Researchers commented that activities like these help them engage with safety again, and act as a great refresher for safety tips and guidelines. I’d like to take this time to thank Watson Bio Lab for their generous donation of screw cap openers to distribute to lab users. Small innovations like these add up to comfort, safety and efficiency at the bench!
