Over the past five years, we have been developing a culture of safety in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Texas Woman’s University, the largest U.S. public institution primarily for women. In addition to our normal beginning of semester laboratory safety talk to the students, we have also initiated other practices to provide students with continuous safety training. For example, all chemistry and biochemistry majors are required to purchase “Laboratory Safety for Chemistry Students” (R. H. Hill, Jr. & D. C. Finster, John Wiley & Sons, Inc, Hoboken, NJ) for their first year Principles of Chemistry I and II lab courses. During the recitation parts of the courses, we discuss various topics from the text on a weekly basis. Students are also quizzed on these topics. In spring 2017, we started providing flame retardant lab coats for all laboratory courses in chemistry through a uniform service. A survey of the students indicate that they like and appreciate the lab coats. Another project was based in the first year Principles lab course where students were assigned teams to create safety presentations on particular topics such as proper lab attire, good laboratory practices and dealing with spills and fires. The quality of some of the presentations was such that many of them will be incorporated into our regular safety training. This presentation will provide details of these initiatives and an assessment of our progress in developing a culture of safety.

Developing a culture of safety in chemistry and biochemistry at Texas Woman’s University

255th National Meeting (2018)

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