Laboratory safety: a course in professional development.

Imagine yourself as you start your first job. Your position is in a well-established laboratory. You concentrate on learning all the new procedures and standard operating procedures, getting to know the culture of the lab. A senior scientist who has been on the joint occupational health and safety committee for decades decides to retire and you are the replacement. You attend the first meeting and suddenly realize you are now the "expert" for all chemical safety in the building. You look back over your training and try to recall what you know about organizing effective safety measures in a laboratory setting.

Canadian universities and colleges do not offer credit-level courses in chemical laboratory safety education and training in their curricula. Technical institutes and community colleges generally do. However, it is by no means consistent from place to place. Nor is it comprehensive. Frequently, it begins with a Web-based introduction to the Workplace Hazardous Material Information System (WHMIS) and is followed by laboratory specific instructions. The training rarely addresses many of the vitally important areas required by laboratories to function in this regulatory age, which include risk identification and management, inventory control, materials handling, waste handling and management, and audits. Technologists graduating from programs accredited by the Canadian Council of Technicians and Technologists have met entry-level requirements for laboratory safety as required under the Canadian Technology Standards from the Canadian Technology Human Resources Board. At the 90th CSC Conference and Exhibition held in Winnipeg, MB in 2007, the Chemical Education Division sponsored a well-attended and lively symposium on laboratory safety, which demonstrated the interest in and need for better curricula and training. In terms of safety in the workplace, there are a number of programs and courses available through quite a variety of vendors, both governmental and private. However, there have been few opportunities for professional development in chemical laboratory safety available in Canada. This is one of the reasons that the Canadian Society for Chemical Technology (CSCT) Laboratory Safety Course was introduced to fulfill part of its professional development mandate.

The CSCT Laboratory Safety Course was first presented at Mohawk College in Hamilton, ON, in October 2003 and has since been offered nine more times across Canada in most major Canadian cities as well as in two large industrial sites. This year has been especially busy with four courses scheduled, including one at this month's CSChE Conference in Edmonton, AB. Participants have come from across the spectrum of Canadian industry, government, and academia. It has proven to be popular with chemical technologists, chemists, chemical engineers, safety professionals, and occupational health and safety committee members.

Participants have included representatives from pharmaceutical companies, oil and gas production facilities, nuclear energy plants, environmental laboratories, biotechnology companies, plastics and pharmaceutical industries, mining and metallurgical laboratories, academic laboratories, and federal government agencies and laboratories. Participants receive two manuals--the 230-page course manual containing all the slides as wen as three appendices of reference material, pins the CIC Laboratory Health and Safety Guidelines, eth Ed. The style of the course, although formally presented as a PowerPoint slide presentation, is interactive enough to facilitate information interchange and sharing of best practices. Breakout sessions have been incorporated to explore selected topics in more depth and to allow participants to express their own ideas and experiences. Some typical comments from the evaluation forms include, "I really appreciated the interactive style." "I have approximately 30 to 35 issues to bring back to our next safety meeting." "Most complete training I have ever had the opportunity to attend." "Instructor is very knowledgeable in all aspects of lab operations--a lot of experience." and "Material exceeded expectations in level of detail." Our goal is to provide comprehensive training in laboratory safety.

Eric Mead, FCIC, is is a retired chemical technology instructor living in Calgary, AB, who spends much of his time renovating homes. He served as CIC chair from 2002 to 2003.