UA Embraces New Lab Safety Guidelines Kimberly Andrews Espy, the University's senior vice president for research, is part of the national group that helped craft the guidelines.

UA Office for Research & Discovery





The Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities, or APLU, recently released its Guide to Implementing a Safety Culture in Our Universities, as well as a companion website, both intended as a roadmap for efforts to strengthen research safety.

Kimberly Andrews Espy, the University of Arizona's senior vice president for research, serves on the APLU's Task Force on Laboratory Safety that wrote the new guidelines.

The guide and website include 20 recommendations, each with supplemental information such as reading lists, illustrative examples and best practices drawn from a community of stakeholders. These resources were selected to help universities across the nation navigate the process of strengthening their culture of safety.

"We believe that laboratory safety is absolutely fundamental in everything we do here," Espy said. "I am proud to have contributed to the APLU's task force that created the new guidelines and am confident that our researchers will continue to follow the highest safety standards ensuring a safe environment for our researchers and students."

According to Dan Silvain, senior director of Research Laboratory and Safety Services, the UA is ahead of the curve when it comes to laboratory safety — and continuously improving.

In breaking the guide and website into 20 recommendations, the task force sought to provide a foundational resource that can be used by institutions regardless of the current practices they have in place to ensure research safety.

The report notes that instituting a strengthened culture of research safety starts with the vocal commitment and leadership of a university president; relies on faculty, students and staff engaged in the discovery enterprise to adopt safer practices; and requires a campuswide willingness to implement policies and practices that support a culture of safety.

The task force, which APLU created in coordination with the Association of American Universities, American Chemical Society, and Council on Governmental Relations, is comprised of senior research officers, environmental and health safety experts, and representatives from industry and national labs. In writing the guide, the task force actively reached out across the university and science communities to hear perspectives on strengthening the laboratory safety culture from more than 20 organizations and 25 institutions.

"These new guidelines are an important part of the APLU's work," said UA President Ann Weaver Hart. "I am very proud that Dr. Espy played a role in their creation. Leadership in research depends on active commitment to the practice and process of laboratory safety, and it is crucial for success in the UA’s land-grant mission that we contribute to national efforts like these."