What you need to know
Provost Baldasty invited a pilot group of 90 laboratories, encompassing 33 scientific departments, to work with EH&S on the initiative. These laboratories are representative of many complex laboratories using hazardous chemicals and have opportunities for improving their performance ratings.
While all other research laboratories will continue to be surveyed for laboratory safety every 12 to 18 months, the pilot group will be surveyed three times over a 24-month period by EH&S professionals, who will work with them to provide coaching, tools and expertise aimed at improving laboratory safety profiles. Support, such as the provision of personal protective equipment, recognition for high-performing laboratories, and other appropriate provisions, is being considered as an incentive for participation in the pilot group.
Provost Baldasty has appointed an advisory task force consisting of departmental deans, chairs, principal investigators, lab managers, administrators and safety professionals to advise EH&S for the duration of this initiative. The knowledge and expertise of this task force, combined with the collective knowledge of the laboratory community, will help ensure that this initiative will facilitate safe research which meets requirements for health and safety and adds value to the University’s mission.
Amanda Bidwell, Research Technologist, School of Environmental & Forest Sciences
Barry Lutz, Principal Investigator, Bioengineering
Beverly Berg-Rood, Administrator, Division of Medical Genetics
Charlie Lee, Lab Manager, Genome Sciences
Christopher Adams, Building Manager and Safety Officer, Molecular Engineering
Doug Gallucci, Assistant Director – EP, Environmental Health & Safety
Gary Pedersen, Administrator, Chemistry
Jude Van Buren, Senior Director, Environmental Health & Safety
Lynn Hajjar, Principal Investigator, Comparative Medicine
Mark Murray, Assistant Director – BFS, Environmental Health & Safety
Paul Hopkins, Chair Emeritus, Chemistry
Sonia Honeydew, Facilities Specialist, College of Engineering
Stephanie Harrington, Associate Dean, College of the Environment
Sungwoo Hong, Research Scientist III, Environmental and Occupational Health Science
Tracy Harvey, Lab Survey & Fume Hood Programs Manager, Environmental Health & Safety
Trisha Davis, Chair, Biochemistry
Surveys conducted as part of the LSI will be EH&S Laboratory Safety Surveys.
Research labs at UW may be surveyed or inspected by multiple groups, depending on the types of research being conducted. Find out more about the different survey and inspection categories on the UW Research-Related Survey Groups Focus Sheet.
EH&S News - EH&S News is a bimonthly newsletter for UW faculty, staff, and students. The newsletter focuses on resources that support the UW safety culture, helpful safety information, and updates on the Environmental Health and Safety department. You can sign up to receive it in email form or look at past and current issues here.
Lab Safety Initiative Updates - EH&S sends out the Lab Safety Initiative Newsletter to PIs and Lab Managers periodically to keep our community informed of the initiative’s progress and announce new developments and resources.