From:
TILAK CHANDRA <0000058f112ac338-dmarc-request**At_Symbol_Here**LISTS.PRINCETON.EDU>
Subject:
Re: [DCHAS-L] [EXTERNAL] [DCHAS-L] Safety awareness
Date:
Jul 27, 2022 15:43 UTC
Reply-To:
ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety
In-Reply-To:
Re: [DCHAS-L] [EXTERNAL] [DCHAS-L] Safety awareness
Hi Dave,
Thank you very much for your optimism and starting this helpful thread.
I have only one concern here- in addition to commitment, if we can fix accountability at every level, we can even make progress at a faster pace. Because, the accountability is clearly defined in the industry. Therefore, industry have a better safety management
system and safety culture.
We should also remember that chemistry is a diverse field, especially organic syntheses, where researchers manipulate various reactions and chemicals under different conditions, such as high-pressure and temperature, and highly toxic
reagents . The reactions/manipulations are rarely repeated, maybe only during precursor generation. Any deviation or using an impure substrate can cause problems. So, everything is not straight forward.
Sincerely,
Tilak
From: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**Princeton.EDU> on behalf of David C. Finster <dfinster**At_Symbol_Here**WITTENBERG.EDU>
Sent: Wednesday, July 27, 2022 8:00 AM
To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**Princeton.EDU <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**Princeton.EDU>
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] [EXTERNAL] [DCHAS-L] Safety awareness
I am wary of "1001 Questions Every Science Educator Should Know." Any such collection, even if organized by topic, is not likely to be a coherent set of learning goals. For such a resource I suggest the ACS booklet,
Guidelines for Chemical Laboratory Safety in Academic Institutions, (
https://institute.acs.org/content/dam/pldp/center/lab-safety/publications/acs-safety-guidelines-academic.pdf).
This was thoughtfully constructed by experts in the field. (It is, of course focused on chemistry - not "science educators" at large.) The ACS Committee on Professional Training also supports the general ideas that are more specifically listed in this booklet
in their
ACS Guidelines and Evaluation Procedures for Bachelor's Degree Programs (
Layout
1 (acs.org) ).
We do not lack information about should be taught regarding safety. What we lack is a serious commitment teaching safety at the undergraduate level by many institutions. That said, my impression is that the "state of the art" is better in 2022 than it
was in 2012 and it will continue to improve. The ACS website about safety is replete with resources. What we are trying to do is change a culture; this is slow. Patience is advised, but stagnation should not be tolerated. Progress is often made at individual
institutions when a "champion for safety" emerges. Press on.
Dave
