SAFE SCIENCE
Promoting a Culture of Safety in Academic Chemical Research
Committee on Establishing and Promoting a Culture of Safety
in Academic Laboratory Research
Board on Chemical Sciences and Technology
Division on Earth and Life Studies
Board on Human-Systems Integration
Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education
NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL
OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS
Washington, D.C.
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NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. CHE-1215772, the U.S. Department of Energy under Award Number DE-SC0007960, the National Institute of Standards and Technology under contract number SB1341-12-CQ-0036/13-100, ExxonMobil Chemical Company, E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, and the American Chemical Society.
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THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES
Advisers to the Nation on Science, Engineering, and Medicine
The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone is president of the National Academy of Sciences.
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COMMITTEE ON ESTABLISHING AND PROMOTING A CULTURE OF SAFETY IN ACADEMIC LABORATORY RESEARCH
Members
H. HOLDEN THORP (Chair), Washington University in St. Louis, MO
DAVID M. DEJOY (Vice Chair), University of Georgia, Athens
JOHN E. BERCAW, NAS, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA
ROBERT G. BERGMAN, NAS, University of California, Berkeley
JOSEPH M. DEEB, ExxonMobil Corporation, Houston, TX
LAWRENCE M. GIBBS,* Stanford University, Stanford, CA
THEODORE GOODSON, III, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
ANDREW S. IMADA, A. S. Imada and Associates, Carmichael, CA
KIMBERLY BEGLEY JESKIE, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN
BRADLEY L. PENTELUTE, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge
KARLENE H. ROBERTS, University of California, Berkeley
JENNIFER M. SCHOMAKER, University of Wisconsin–Madison
ALICE M. YOUNG, Texas Tech University, Lubbock
National Research Council Staff
DOUGLAS FRIEDMAN, Study Director
TOBY WARDEN, Associate Director, Board on Human-Systems Integration (through January 3, 2014)
ELIZABETH FINKELMAN, Program Coordinator (as of August 12, 2013)
CARL GUSTAV ANDERSON, Research Associate (as of February 3, 2014)
AMANDA KHU, Administrative Assistant (through August 9, 2013)
NAWINA MATSHONA, Senior Program Assistant (as of October 21, 2013)
RACHEL YANCEY, Senior Program Assistant (through June 3, 2013)
________________
* Resigned June 10, 2014.
BOARD ON CHEMICAL SCIENCES AND TECHNOLOGY
Members
TIMOTHY SWAGER (Co-Chair), NAS, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge
DAVID WALT (Co-Chair), NAE, Tufts University, Medford, MA
HÉCTOR D. ABRUÑA, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
JOEL C. BARRISH, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Princeton, NJ
MARK A. BARTEAU, NAE, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
DAVID BEM, The Dow Chemical Company, Philadelphia, PA
ROBERT G. BERGMAN, NAS, University of California, Berkeley
JOAN BRENNECKE, NAE, University of Notre Dame, IN
HENRY E. BRYNDZA, E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Company, Wilmington, DE
MICHELLE V. BUCHANAN, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN
DAVID W. CHRISTIANSON, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
RICHARD EISENBERG, NAS, University of Rochester, NY
JILL HRUBY, Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM
FRANCES S. LIGLER, NAE, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University, Raleigh
SANDER G. MILLS, Merck Research Laboratories (Ret.), Scotch Plains, NJ
JOSEPH B. POWELL, Shell, Houston, TX
ROBERT E. ROBERTS, Institute for Defense Analyses, Alexandria, VA
PETER J. ROSSKY, NAS, Rice University, Houston, TX
DARLENE SOLOMON, Agilent Technologies, Santa Clara, CA
National Research Council Staff
TERESA FRYBERGER, Director
DOUGLAS FRIEDMAN, Senior Program Officer
KATHRYN HUGHES, Senior Program Officer
CARL-GUSTAV ANDERSON, Research Associate
ELIZABETH FINKELMAN, Program Coordinator
NAWINA MATSHONA, Senior Program Assistant
BOARD ON HUMAN-SYSTEMS INTEGRATION
Members
NANCY J. COOKE (Chair), Arizona State University, Phoenix
ELLEN BASS, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA
PASCALE CARAYON, University of Wisconsin–Madison
SARA J. CZAJA, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL
FRANCIS (FRANK) T. DURSO, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta
ANDREW S. IMADA, A. S. Imada and Associates, Carmichael, CA
KARL S. PISTER, NAE, University of California, Berkeley (Emeritus)
DAVID REMPEL, University of California, San Francisco
MATTHEW RIZZO, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha
BARBARA SILVERSTEIN, Washington State Department of Labor and Industries, Olympia
DAVID H. WEGMAN, University of Massachusetts at Lowell (Emeritus)
National Research Council Staff
BARBARA A. WANCHISEN, Director
JATRYCE JACKSON, Program Associate
MICKELLE RODRIGUEZ, Program Coordinator
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Preface
While the hazards of academic chemical research have long been recognized, recent incidents prompted the National Research Council to ask whether there was another way to look at instilling stronger safety practices in chemical research. In particular, could the ideas and methodologies of safety culture from the industrial sector, including non-laboratory settings such as the airline industry, health care, and manufacturing, be brought in a more intentioned way to produce recommendations for making laboratory science safer? As such, a panel was formed consisting of university academic leadership and safety and health administrators, highly distinguished chemistry faculty members, and experts in the field of safety culture and human–systems integration.
The committee brought expertise and outlooks that had never been assembled similarly before. One member is a university provost who has been a dean, chemistry department chair, and chancellor during a time when numerous new regulations were being imposed on higher education, and thus understands the difficulty of achieving compliance and shifting culture. We had environmental health and safety officials from academia, industry, and the national labs who have years of experience in implementing safety regulations and encouraging safe science. We had senior, highly distinguished faculty members, who have led labs handling chemical hazards for decades and have seen the evolution in safety attitudes. We had young faculty just setting up their labs for the first time. And we had experts in safety culture and the behavioral sciences, who had been involved in numerous industries and had dealt with changes in practices that followed high-profile incidents of many different kinds.
The process of building a common language among this group of disparate perspectives was challenging, but worthwhile. Initially, it was not obvious to the group that social-behavioral heuristics and rubrics of safety culture could be applied to chemical research. Conversely, the specific practices of laboratory behavior and extraordinary autonomy afforded to chemical researchers when it comes to safety were new to the safety culture experts. We persevered in these conversations, came to common understandings, and achieved results that we believe are unusual and important.
The committee engaged a similarly wide group, ranging from young graduate students just beginning to work with chemical hazards to seasoned laboratory veterans. We talked to individuals from both highly resourced schools with large research budgets and operations as well as regional public universities and private liberal arts colleges that had only one person working in environmental health and safety. We talked to faculty members whose expertise varied from ultrafast laser spectroscopy to an anthropologist who studies power dynamics in academic laboratories.
For decades, laboratory incidents have resulted in new regulations. The committee upholds that compliance is important and that there is always room for better adherence to regulations, which make research safer. However, in writing our recommendations, we strove not to simply produce a list of new regulations. Rather, we hoped that our report would move chemical research beyond simple compliance to the adoption of a culture of safety in academic laboratories that transcends inspections, standard operating procedures, and chemical safety plans. A true safety culture represents a total commitment to achieving safety even in the absence of specific rules or other regulatory guidance. It means making safety an ongoing operational priority.
Our recommendations challenge many longstanding ideas about chemical research. Working long hours and late into the night are still seen as rites of passage in the development of scientists. Student desks for data analysis, writing, and eating still persist inside the laboratories. Principal investigators and visitors to the laboratory often feel that they do not need personal protective equipment if they are not handling any hazardous materials. From our work, we believe there is eagerness among young scientists and veterans alike to challenge these assumptions.
H. Holden Thorp, Chair
David M. DeJoy, Vice Chair
Douglas Friedman, Study Director
Committee on Establishing and Promoting
a Culture of Safety in Academic Research Laboratories
Acknowledgment of Reviewers
This report has been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise, in accordance with procedures approved by the National Research Council’s Report Review Committee. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the institution in making its published report as sound as possible and to ensure that the report meets institutional standards for objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process. We wish to thank the following individuals for their review of this report:
Donna Blackmond, NAE, The Scripps Research Institute
Dominick J. Casadonte, Jr., Texas Tech University
Sharon Clarke, University of Manchester
Kenneth Fivizzani, Nalco Company (ret.)
David A. Hofmann, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Robin Izzo, Princeton University
Brian M. Kleiner, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
David Korn, IOM, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School
Stephen R. Leone, NAS, University of California, Berkeley
William Tolman, University of Minnesota
Although the reviewers listed above have provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the conclusions or recommendations, nor did they see the final draft of the report before its release. The review of this report was overseen by Julia M. Phillips, NAE, Sandia National Laboratories, and Jeffrey J. Siirola, NAE, Eastman Chemical Company (ret.). Appointed by the National Research Council, they were responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this report was carried out in accordance with institutional procedures and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content of this report rests entirely with the authoring committee and the institution.
The Third Epoch: Safety Culture
Mindfulness and Situational Awareness
INVOLVEMENT, GROUPS, AND TEAMS
KNOWLEDGE FROM OTHER SAFETY SYSTEMS
Industrial Research Facilities
3 LABORATORY SAFETY IN CHEMICAL RESEARCH IN ACADEMIC SETTINGS
CHARACTERISTICS OF UNIVERSITY-BASED RESEARCH ORGANIZATIONS
Organizational and Operational Structure
Senior University Administration
Provosts and College and School Deans
Environmental Health and Safety
EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL OVERSIGHT
CHALLENGES FOR EXISTING ACADEMIC LABORATORY RESEARCH SAFETY
Multidisciplinary and Interdepartmental Research
SAFETY CULTURE KNOWLEDGE GAPS WITHIN ACADEMIC RESEARCH LABORATORIES
4 LABORATORY SAFETY DYNAMICS TO IMPROVE SAFETY CULTURE
PRACTICES FROM NATIONAL LABORATORIES
Productivity as a Cultural Imperative
YOUNGER PEOPLE AT WORK AND RISKY BEHAVIOR
COMMUNICATION ABOUT LAB SAFETY
LEADERSHIP SHOULD INCLUDE SAFETY AS A VALUE AT ALL LEVELS
INFLUENCES FROM THE OUTSIDE IN
Incorporating Safety into Performance and Evaluation Measures for Faculty
Journals Should Include Safety and Health Information
Important Characteristics in the Laboratory
Recalcitrant Group Leaders and/or Co-workers
IDEAS TO ADDRESS SAFETY DYNAMICS
Advantages for Recruiting and Laboratory Funding
Safety in Departmental Rankings
Role of the Principal Investigator
SKILLS AND TOOLS FOR PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATORS
5 FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS
BEYOND ACADEMIC CHEMISTRY LABORATORIES
Researchers Beyond Chemistry Research
FOCUS ON CHEMICAL RESEARCH: FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Institution-Wide Dynamics and Resources