ISBN 978-0-8412-2817-7

Appendix A: Brief Summary of the DiSCuSSions ofthe Elements of a Safety Culture from the June2011 Retreat of the Safety Culture Task ForceDuring the June 2011 retreat, SCTF identified elements that are critical in strengthening safetycultures, such as:• Leadership;• Teaching basic laboratory and chemical safety (shop safety included);• Safety ethic, attitude, and safety awareness;• Learning lessons from laboratory incidents;• Collaborative interactions;• Promoting and communicating safety; and• Encouraging institutional support of safety by budgeting for safety programs and supplies.SCTF considered several ideas addressing these elements and best practices, including:• Leadership: Identify the chain of command and line of authority within the academicinstitution and seek strong safety policies and support from the top down—identifyleaders, inform leaders of the issue. Include safety as an element in all faculty and staffperformance evaluations. Identify major points in a form letter to be sent to the principaladministrator. Identify a model safety policy. Seek administration support and commitmentof funding resources. Identify bright spots—these could be past recipients of the CHAS/NIOSH College and University Health and Safety Award. Examine the ACS Chemist Codeof Conduct and ACS Academic Professional Guidelines. Identify organizations that canprovide evaluations of the institution’s safety program. Partner with other departments toassist with developing and teaching safety and ethics.• Teaching basic laboratory and chemical safety: Identify safety topics that could betaught to undergraduates in each and every laboratory session. Assess safety skills bytesting knowledge of safety frequently. Ensure all faculty and staff overseeing laboratoryoperations have safety education. Consider a capstone course or examination todemonstrate proficiency in safety, especially for teaching assistants and laboratorycoordinators. Consider a laboratory safety course for all graduate students. Identifyresources and instructional materials for developing and implementing safety lessons.Re-examine CPT resources for evaluating safety skills, safety equipment in facilities, andsafety programs at colleges and universities. Develop an ACS Chemist Standard (four-yearstudy plan) for safety using the ACS two-year Technician Standard as a model.• Safety ethic, attitude, and safety awareness: Teach safety lessons throughout the entirefour-year undergraduate program. Students should learn about ethics, including a focuson attitude and responsibilities for safety—these ethics should be integrated into theeducational process. Provide a capstone course on ethics. Hold an open forum to get41