The document discusses the concept of safety culture in laboratories based on various surveys conducted over the years. It mentions that the term "safety culture" was first introduced after major industrial accidents to explain why safety failures occurred. Several surveys of academic labs found general acceptance of safety responsibilities but identified gaps in safety management systems and procedures. Most researchers expressed interest in safety and ethics training but support is needed to further these discussions. Explicit consideration of community expectations and ethical dimensions of lab safety is currently lacking in laboratory culture.

1. What do we know about the
safety culture of laboratories?
Ralph Stuart, CIH

2. The Concept of "Safety Culture"

3. The Concept of "Safety Culture"
• I first heard a discussion of "risk culture" by Arie Rip, a
Belgian sociologist at a biosafety conference in Montreal
in 1990. He described the risk culture of certain
occupational groups as a "danger culture" based on
transmitting rules of thumb based on bad experiences in
specific settings.

4. The Concept of "Safety Culture"
• I first heard a discussion of "risk culture" by Arie Rip, a
Belgian sociologist at a biosafety conference in Montreal
in 1990. He described the risk culture of certain
occupational groups as a "danger culture" based on
transmitting rules of thumb based on bad experiences in
specific settings.
• The 1995 edition of Prudent Practices established the idea
of "safety culture" as a key element of laboratory
management.

5. The Concept of "Safety Culture"
• I first heard a discussion of "risk culture" by Arie Rip, a
Belgian sociologist at a biosafety conference in Montreal
in 1990. He described the risk culture of certain
occupational groups as a "danger culture" based on
transmitting rules of thumb based on bad experiences in
specific settings.
• The 1995 edition of Prudent Practices established the idea
of "safety culture" as a key element of laboratory
management.
• While the definitions can be nebulous, there is a general
recognition that "Culture eats strategy for breakfast"

6. "Safety culture" in the media

7. "Safety culture" in the media
• A review article by Susan Silbey in 2009 found that "safety culture"
was first mentioned by Dupont after Bhopal to explain why the
event happened in India and didn't reflect on their US operations.
Then Institute, WV had a similar event.

8. "Safety culture" in the media
• A review article by Susan Silbey in 2009 found that "safety culture"
was first mentioned by Dupont after Bhopal to explain why the
event happened in India and didn't reflect on their US operations.
Then Institute, WV had a similar event.
• 1986: International Atomic Energy Agency mentions safety culture
as part of the Chernobyl review.

9. "Safety culture" in the media
• A review article by Susan Silbey in 2009 found that "safety culture"
was first mentioned by Dupont after Bhopal to explain why the
event happened in India and didn't reflect on their US operations.
Then Institute, WV had a similar event.
• 1986: International Atomic Energy Agency mentions safety culture
as part of the Chernobyl review.
• The media history of the term:

10. "Safety culture" in the media
• A review article by Susan Silbey in 2009 found that "safety culture"
was first mentioned by Dupont after Bhopal to explain why the
event happened in India and didn't reflect on their US operations.
Then Institute, WV had a similar event.
• 1986: International Atomic Energy Agency mentions safety culture
as part of the Chernobyl review.
• The media history of the term:
• Before 1980: zero references

11. "Safety culture" in the media
• A review article by Susan Silbey in 2009 found that "safety culture"
was first mentioned by Dupont after Bhopal to explain why the
event happened in India and didn't reflect on their US operations.
Then Institute, WV had a similar event.
• 1986: International Atomic Energy Agency mentions safety culture
as part of the Chernobyl review.
• The media history of the term:
• Before 1980: zero references
• From 1990-2000: 570 references

12. "Safety culture" in the media
• A review article by Susan Silbey in 2009 found that "safety culture"
was first mentioned by Dupont after Bhopal to explain why the
event happened in India and didn't reflect on their US operations.
Then Institute, WV had a similar event.
• 1986: International Atomic Energy Agency mentions safety culture
as part of the Chernobyl review.
• The media history of the term:
• Before 1980: zero references
• From 1990-2000: 570 references
• between 2000 and 2007: Over 2250 articles in newspapers,
magazines, scholarly journals, and law reviews in an eight-year
period

13. Review of 4 surveys relevant to the
question in academic labs
• CHAS survey of academic chemistry departments,
April 2010
• CSHEMA campus safety climate survey, November
2010
• CHAS membership survey, December 2010
• Nano researchers (NNIN), 2005-06

14. CHAS Chemistry Department
Laboratory Safety Culture Survey
• Conducted in response to a request from a chair of a
small chemistry department about national best
practices
• The survey was written in house and conducted in
April, 2010
• There was about a 45% response rate; about 50% of the
surveys were responded to by chairs, 50% by others.
• Concerns about specific department issues were
expressed by about 10% of the respondents

15. Survey Highlights
• The results indicated a
general acceptance of
laboratory safety
responsibilities, but key
elements of a management
system were missing at
both the management and
procedural levels.

16. The Academic Safety Climate
• Conducted
November, 2010
as part of a PhD
research project
• Safety Climate
Survey of 5
research
campuses
responding to
CSHEMA survey

17. Sources of Academic Safety
• Interesting note:
The lowest level of
confidence in
safety orientation
was in the
supervisors.
• This is a common
finding in a variety
of organizations.

18. CHAS Members Survey, December 2010
• Respondents had a long (more than 10 years)
experience with laboratory safety
• 60% report that the lab safety situation has improved
over the last 10 years.
• The respondents report that about 75% of the faculty
provide effective safety leadership for their labs

19. Nanoethics Survey
• Ethics and Nanotechnology: Views of
Nanotechnology Researchers, Robert McGinn,
Director, Program in Science, Technology & Society,
Stanford University
• 1100 users of NNIN facilities responded to questions
about ethical issues, including, but not limited to,
Environmental Health and Safety issues.

20. EHS Nanoethics in the Research Setting
• 72% said carrying out a
procedure without informing one’s
benchmates as completely unethical,
another 20.9% as somewhat unethical.
• For the “without fully searching the
existing scholarly literature” scenario,
the completely unethical figure fell to
32.4% while the somewhat unethical figure
rose to 39.6%.
• Equally noteworthy, the percentage
who viewed carrying out the procedure
without fully searching the scholarly
literature as an action to which ethics is
irrelevant was 13.6%.

21. Nano ethics in the research setting
• The success of the
"try to persuade"
approach is likely to
be rather hit and
miss, depending on
the personalities and
statices involved.

22. Interest in Nanoethics Training
• 43% report being
quite interested in
learning about
Nanoethics.

23. Final Thoughts

24. Final Thoughts
• Environmental Health and Safety issues are about community
expectations as well as individual safety. This ethical
dimension of EHS both places obligations on lab workers are
well as helps to protect them

25. Final Thoughts
• Environmental Health and Safety issues are about community
expectations as well as individual safety. This ethical
dimension of EHS both places obligations on lab workers are
well as helps to protect them
• Explicit discussion of this aspect of lab work is lacking in the
laboratory culture. Information tools to support these
discussions are lacking as well.

26. Final Thoughts
• Environmental Health and Safety issues are about community
expectations as well as individual safety. This ethical
dimension of EHS both places obligations on lab workers are
well as helps to protect them
• Explicit discussion of this aspect of lab work is lacking in the
laboratory culture. Information tools to support these
discussions are lacking as well.
• The majority of people involved in research labs are interested
in this issue, but need help to move it forward.

27. Final Thoughts
• Environmental Health and Safety issues are about community
expectations as well as individual safety. This ethical
dimension of EHS both places obligations on lab workers are
well as helps to protect them
• Explicit discussion of this aspect of lab work is lacking in the
laboratory culture. Information tools to support these
discussions are lacking as well.
• The majority of people involved in research labs are interested
in this issue, but need help to move it forward.
• There are outliers who aren't interested - should they drive the
agenda?

28. Data References
• Governing Green Laboratories http://web.mit.edu/
~ssilbey/www/safe_science.html
• C&EN article on first CHAS survey: http://
pubs.acs.org/cen/education/
88/8825education1.html
• Ethics and Nanotechnology: Views of
Nanotechnology Researchers, Robert McGinn, 2008,
Nanoethics

29. Theory references
• Taming Prometheus: Talk About Safety and Culture;
Susan S. Silbey, Annual Review of Sociology 2009.
35:341–69
• From safety culture to safety orientation: Validation and
simplification of a safety orientation scale using a sample
of seafarers working for Norwegian ship owners. Jon
Ivar Håvold*, Erik Nesset, Ålesund University College,
Norway, Safety Science, 47 (2009) 305–326
• Communicating Risks and Benefits: An Evidence-Based
User’s Guide. FDA