Dive Brief:
- Colleges and universities must be sure to keep an exhaustive chemical inquiry of the location of all hazardous waste materials to avoid accidents and injuries on campus, University Business reports.
- Best practices also include all researchers getting lab safety training, with grounds and maintenance staff also undergoing safety sessions, and schools should consider a campuswide safety manual to create a baseline understanding of handling hazardous materials.
- Disposing of hazardous materials can be costly, but schools can establish annual contracts with waste removal companies to cut costs, according to University Business. Avoiding accidents and their ancillary costs will also keep costs down in the longterm.
Dive Insight:
Part of the concern about university laboratories is that there is no agency or oversight organization tracking safety violations, according to reporting from Beryl Lieff Benderly for Undark. Benderly also found that occupational safety laws pertain to paid lab employees and professors but don't pertain to students. Without more uniform oversight and a lack of possible punitive measures in response to inadequate workplace safety, universities may feel their funds are better spent elsewhere.
As certain students face potential legal action from universities when they decide whether to unionize, it is possible the push for more uniform safety conditions in university laboratories could come from graduate student research assistants. The NLRB ruled last summer that these students are university employees and have the right to unionize, and there are increasing indications from several institutions, including Brandeis University, that student workers and lab assistants are following through on the implications of that ruling. Calls for improved safety conditions in these labs may come from these newly-formed student unions