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DCHAS-L Discussion List Archive

From: "Reinhardt, Peter" <peter.reinhardt**At_Symbol_Here**YALE.EDU>
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Perhaps of Interest: "Safety Responsibilities for Yale PIs"
Date: Wed, 1 May 2019 00:20:06 +0000
Reply-To: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**PRINCETON.EDU>
Message-ID: 5B5BE9FE-2B54-4515-B209-8A1DD43946C1**At_Symbol_Here**yale.edu


DivCHAS Colleagues,

At many other universities, leadership has distributed safety messages to research faculty. With the message below, Yale has now joined that group. Our new Vice Provost for Research, Peter Schiffer, promises to send similar messages annually. I hope you find this "best practice" encouraging. Note that the risk assessment link leads to ACS' good work.

Pete Reinhardt, Yale EHS

Begin forwarded message:

From: "Peter Schiffer, Vice Provost for Research" <vpr**At_Symbol_Here**message.yale.edu>
Subject: Safety Responsibilities for Yale PIs
Date: April 30, 2019 at 3:32:35 PM EDT
To: <peter.reinhardt**At_Symbol_Here**yale.edu>
Reply-To: "Peter Schiffer, Vice Provost for Research" <reply-fec017777163007b-94_HTML-29033119-100015661-1**At_Symbol_Here**message.yale.edu>
April 30, 2019
Dear Principal Investigators,

As we approach the end of the academic year and the start of the summer, many of us will be welcoming new students and visitors into our research programs. With that in mind, I am writing to remind you of your critical leadership role and responsibility for maintaining the safety of your research program and that of all members of the Yale community.

Safety is a concern in almost any research environment, and especially so in research labs. Laboratory safety improvements have been a national topic of conversation, and safety concerns can extend beyond the immediate lab environment. Yale is part of this conversation, and we must continue to strive for improvement while strengthening a robust safety culture in our research enterprise. Serious accidents typically result from poor preparation, carelessness, and inattention, and they can be tragic. Your leadership can help prevent these kinds of incidents.

As a Principal Investigator with overall responsibility for your research program, you have an obligation to ensure that students and research staff have been appropriately trained on applicable safety policies and procedures and that visitors to campus labs know your expectations related to safety. I urge you to be both a role model and champion for safety culture by:
  • explicitly assuming the leadership role for safety within your research program,
  • talking about safety, and incorporating safety moments into your regular meetings,
  • planning for safety, which could be as simple as a checklist or as complex as a risk assessment,
  • looking out for the safety of others, both in your lab and around campus, and
  • modeling proper safety behaviors for others to follow.
Yale's Office of Environmental Health and Safety is here to help. Safety Advisorsare assigned to every building on campus and can collaborate with you to help identify and mitigate potential hazards and to provide support to promote the safety and productivity of your lab. Please feel free to consult with these advisors about safety concerns for research both inside and outside the laboratory, including research in the field.

For more information, visit ehs.yale.edu or contact your Safety Advisor.

Thank you for bringing attention to this important aspect of our research enterprise.

Best Regards,
 
Peter Schiffer
Vice Provost for Research
 
 
 
Yale University
This email was sent by: Yale University
P.O. BOX 208333, New Haven, CT, 06520-8365 US

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