E VO LU T I O N O F SA F E T Y A N D TA T R A I N I N G OV E R T H E PA S T 3 0

Y E A R S I N T H E NAU C H E M I S T RY D E PA RT M E N T

J O H N NAU M A NL A B O R ATO RY M A NAG E R , S R

NAU C H E M I S T RY D E P T.

War Stories, Undergraduate TAs, and Hands On Training

Evolution of Laboratory Safety and TA Training

History of NAU Chemistry Safety and TA Training at NAU – How do we differ from ASU and UofA?

Current Course Design of “Laboratory Safety and Supervision”

Weaving War Stories Into Lab Safety Training – Some Examples

Hands on Aspects of Course: Laboratory Safety Audits, and Mock Emergency Training

NAU Chemistry Department: 1981

Fall 1981 – My First Semester at NAU as 1st Lab Mgr.15-20 Tenure Track Faculty who are Listed as Lab Instructors –

TAs Never listed as Instructors.4 Staff (1.5 Office, 1 Lab Mgr., 1 Stores, 0.5 Inst. Room)2 GTAs20-25 Undergraduate TAs and Stockroom Employees20-30 Total Sections for all Lab Courses per SemesterVery Limited State Operations and Student Wages Budgets that

never really increased much in 15 yearsRisk Management Lab Safety – One Person in FacilitiesNearly Everything in Chemistry Building

NAU Chemistry Department: 2014

Fall 2014 – Now 3 Lab Mgrs. (2 added last five years)15-20 Faculty Tenure Track, Lecturers, & 4 Lab Instructors6 Staff (2 Office, 3 Lab Mgr., 1 Stores)8-10 GTAs40-50 Undergraduate TAs and Stockroom Employees~100 Total Sections for all Lab Courses per SemesterMost of Lab Program Funded by Lab Fees Including Salary for

Undergraduate Employees not GTAs ~60-100 Chemistry Majors per YearIn three different building: CHM, Wettaw, Sci. Lab, New!EH&S 6-7 Professionals

How Have We Attempted to Make This Work?

History of our Safety & TA Training Program:Annual Saturday Morning Safety Program (lecture and fire

extinguisher training) 1-2 hour Spring Refresher on 1st Friday of Semester Incorporated Skits and Mock Emergencies into training

sessions (involved 2-4 faculty)Created course CHM599 for undergraduate employees and

graduate students.Course evolved to CHM 295 and 595, Laboratory Safety an

Supervision, approved by curriculum committee early 90s.

CHM 295 & 595 – Lab Safety and Supervision

CHM 295 and 595 is offered for 1-2 units for undergraduatesFirst unit is for safety training onlySecond unit is for TA training (All TAs in training take 2 units)Required for all students workers in labs (not research)Completion of organic chemistry is required for CHM 595CHM 595 is a required course for all graduate studentsOften taken by students in our science teacher training

programMini Course Format: first 8 weeks of semesterUse Risk Assessment Approach in Our Labs

Safety Training

Presentation format uses war stories, video tapes, group exercises, hands-on activities, EH&S training, and lecture

Evaluation based on weekly quizzes, final, audit, and completion of Mock Emergency Training (CPR xtra)

Texts used include “Safety in Academic Chemistry Laboratories” , “NAU Chemistry Department Chemical Hygiene Plan”, and a reading packet.

Objectives: Familiarity with lab safety concepts, emergency response, references, department & NAU policy and meet OSHA training requirements.

TA Training

Some Common Training Done for All TAs - ChangingUpper Division Labs 1-2 TAs Mostly Graduate Students

Trained Mainly by Faculty Instructor for LabFor General and Organic Chemistry Labs (multiple

sections) TAs are required: Shadow a Lab Section before their section or the semester before Attend All Required TA Meetings Complete a Weekly Workbook

Course Schedule

First week: EH&S Chemical Hygiene Training, Essential Lab Safety and Emergency Response

Week 2: Hazard Codes, Labels, SDS, Group ExerciseWeeks 3-5 Fire Safety, Chemical and Hazardous

Waste Management, Toxicology, Lab Procedures, Laboratory Safety Audit

Week 6: Mock Emergency TrainingWeek 7: Special Lab Hazards and ProceduresWeek 8: Safety and TA Finals

Group Formation

Groups of 4-6 students

Composition of groups is based on chemistry background and Personality

Groups work together throughout the course

Standard Lab Safety Class Format

Hand back and go over quiz from previous week Nearly Every quiz with have Emergency Response and

Prevention question applying war story.Short Lecture over topic(s)Group work applying to lecture focusVideo, tour to see safety stuff or more lectureQuiz

Example War Stories and Lessons

My Stupid Run In With Sulfuric Acid and Lessons Learned

Sodium Amide IncidentNitric Acid and Ethanol Explosion and Hazardous

Waste CollectionMethyl Methacrylate Explosion and Chemical StorageBreaking 2.5L Bottles of Conc. HCl and Transporting

ChemicalsRecent – Nitrile Glove Incident(s)

Laboratory Safety Audit

Each student conducts audit

If possible students check areas where they work

Chemical inventory is done as part of audit

10% of student’s grade is base on audit

Resulting audit and inventory very useful

Mock Emergency Training

Mock emergencies are setup and run by past students in the course, faculty and staff, risk management staff, and campus security

Student groups rotate through 4-6 emergency scenarios over 2-3 hour period.

Each scenario is as real as possible to allow students to practice their emergency response skills

Scenarios also allow for participants to review causes and prevention of lab emergencies

Schedule for Each Scenario

Organize in lecture roomWalk to sceneAssess scene (5-10 sec.): safe to help, scope of problemInitial Response (30 seconds): evacuate lab, put out

fire, notify security, evacuate building, CPR, first aidManage Scene (up to 5 minutes): witnesses, EMS,

MSDS, scene control, TLCScenario ends and group look for causes and preventionCritic by victims and observers, do participant notesReturn to lecture room

Class Responding Groups Students, Faculty and Staff

Team leaderPerson to notify campus

security (EMS)Observer – fills out “Record

of Safety Incidence”Other group membersEach group member must

rotate through each of the roles above

Victims – folks simulating injuries or conditions of some sort.

Bystanders – folks who scream or just confuse the scene.

Observers – people not part of the scene who evaluate the response of each group

Participant Roles for Mock Emergency Training

Scenarios

Chemical ContactFirePeroxide ExplosionToxic Chemical SpillStroke or Heart AttackSeizure

Schedule of Scenarios

Times 404 418 303 3266-6:30 1 2 3 46:30-7 2 3 4 17-7:30 3 4 1 27:30-8 4 1 2 38-8:30 Debrief

Mock Emergency Training Objectives

Provide hands-on experience for class membersFun review of safety for student employees who have

taken the courseProvide safety training for faculty and staffHeighten general safety awareness in departmentFoster cooperation between our department, risk

management, and campus security Buy in and focus on lab safety (video example)

Thanks to:

Faculty and staff of our chemistry departmentPast class members and student employeesEH&S StaffFacilities Staff for doing CPR-AED training

Questions?