University campuses around the country have created ‘joint safety teams’ (JSTs) of various stripes to supplement the research laboratory safety hierarchy. They fill a vital role by filling gaps in communication between front line researchers (graduate students) and higher-ranking decision makers (faculty). Some responsibilities of JSTs include disseminating information from faculty committees, liaising with campus environmental health and safety officers, developing or leading safety workshops, and generally promoting a culture of safe research practices. At the University of Iowa, our joint safety team is known as the chemical safety and responsibility stewards (CSARS). Our organization functions as most do but we are differentiated in graduate students being integrated into the core framework of the safety hierarchy. One example is when the COVID-19 pandemic began our organization stepped up to play a unique role by ensuring graduate students working as research and teaching assistants were provided with appropriate resources to work safely. The success of this effort shows the self-efficacy of student organizations. When given appropriate resources and a clear task, JSTs can make significant improvements in the working conditions of graduate researchers. Our contributions unrelated to the pandemic include recording first-year student safety training videos, creating demonstration outreach videos focused on safety, and organizing/hosting safety focused webinars. While we are still a young organization, we have found success in establishing our group as a contributing committee of the department within the greater JST network.

University of Iowa chemical safety and responsibility stewards: Finding our place in the chemistry department

ACS Fall 2021

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.