Should science departments have their own safety personnel? – An assessment of a centralized approach

Publication date: Available online 11 December 2015 Source:Journal of Chemical Health and Safety Author(s): Kamilah Hylton In the United States, the OSHA regulation entitled “Occupational Exposure to Hazardous Chemicals in Laboratories” (29 CFR 1910.1450), requires the development of a “Chemical Hygiene Plan” which states how an organization will implement the requirements of the Laboratory Standard to provide a safe and healthy work environment for its employees. This implies a centralized system which takes into consideration specific needs of specialized departments. In Jamaica, there is no distinct regulation that focuses on university/academic laboratories. An assessment of a small university's current safety plan reveals that it is geared towards the management of personal safety and disaster management and thus focuses solely on the treatment of fire, earthquake, bomb threats and hurricanes despite the fact that the university offers pure and applied sciences and consequently procures, utilizes and generates toxic chemicals and biological hazards. Consequently, laboratory safety is at the discretion of the users of the laboratory and therefore one wonders, that in the absence of a centralized system, should science departments have their own safety department?
Source: Journal of Chemical Health and Safety - Category: Chemistry Source Type: research