The tragic death of a UC Laboratory Researcher set in motion a movement to develop a culture of safety within UC laboratories. One key element of this change in safety culture was outfitting all of the University's approximately 30,000 laboratory researchers with the appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for their research. In pursuit of this goal, UC Office of the President in collaboration with EHS staff and researchers throughout the UC system developed an online Laboratory Hazard Assessment Tool, to identify researchers, determine the appropriate PPE needed, and keep track of PPE issued to each researcher. UC also worked with vendors to develop female cut lab coats in all necessary fabrics so researchers can have good fitting comfortable protective clothing for all users. In order to size and distribute PPE to UC's researchers, fitting and distribution events were held at over 9 campus locations throughout California, and an estimated 18,849 researchers received their PPE at these events.

PPE: Outfitting UC's laboratory heroes

248th National Meeting (2014)

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