Fostering a Chemistry Safety Culture Despite Limited Resources: A Successful Example from Academic Research Laboratories in Argentina

ALEJANDRO M. FRACAROLLI; DANIEL A. CAMINOS

JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL EDUCATION

AMER CHEMICAL SOC

Lugar: Washington; Año: 2021 vol. 2021 p. 125 - 125

0021-9584

cientists understand that no result is more important than the welfare of the investigators and the people around them. Safety culture is an integral part of industrial and academic jobs; however, safety training has only recently been added to chemistry classroom and laboratories. Chemistry laboratories expose workers to a variety of hazards, and implementing safety programs and regulations requires both changes and investment to improve the culture of safety. However, scientific research in developing countries frequently involves using creative alternatives to overcome obstacles related to limited financial resources. Therefore, we developed a 12 steps strategy termed Safety Watch, to foster chemistry safety culture in research laboratories without substantial financial resources. A significant milestone in this strategy was a Hygiene and Safety Internal Advising Committee (H&SIAC) composed of self-motivated researchers and students who allocated part of their time to detect, d