In 2016, because of a number of incidents in several national high-containment laboratories, a “Safety Stand Down” was recommended. That term gets use often, but not everyone understands how a safety stand down works. Has [...]
I am a pretty simple person, and the extravagant things of life do not generally entice me. I recently had the unusual opportunity to fly while sitting in the first-class section of the airplane, and [...]
As a super-hero fan, I was excited for several reasons to see the latest Marvel movie, Wakanda Forever. One reason was that the movie would mark the first live-action appearance of one of my favorite [...]
A recent internet sensation is Tariq, the newest “corn-bassador” of South Dakota. During an interview that was posted on Instagram, the young boy from Brooklyn, New York describes corn on the cob like a poet. [...]
One of the great disaster movies of the 1970’s was The Towering Inferno. It was a story that took place during the grand opening of a new skyscraper. Of course, one of the engineers cut [...]
There is a new “pox” on lab safety- monkeypox. Like the most recent novel virus (COVID-19), the unknowns about the monkeypox virus is creating new safety concerns for laboratorians, and it is time now to [...]
Often, I am asked how the person who is responsible for laboratory safety (yet has other duties as well) can get the job done well. In today’s labs there is tight staffing, tight budgeting, and [...]
When the fire began in the university chemistry laboratory, it quickly got out of hand. They called the local fire department since the flames became too much for extinguishers to handle. When the fire trucks [...]
In many organizations, managing safety is not always a full- time job. Many have to oversee the safety program while also managing other day-to-day operations and other programs. Some safety professionals are lucky enough to [...]
A High Reliability Organization (HRO) is one that works with complex and hazardous systems every day and yet retains a high level of safety and an error free environment. The first recognized HRO industries were [...]