Dawn Mason on Safety

Over the years I've fielded many questions about safety and safety culture.

I believe that being safe the lab should simply be the way we do business. It's a mindset I've carried throughout my entire career, one rooted not just in policy but also in practice. Too often incidents in the lab are brushed off as just part of doing science, a little fire in the hood, the syringe that pricked a finger, Labs are sometimes seen a small scale and therefore not as dangerous as full-scale operations, but the truth is labs are dangerous spaces. And when safety isn't built into our daily routines, the consequences can be serious.

You can boil working safely down to three core principles:
    creating the right environment
    practicing risk mitigation
    learning when things don't go right.

Creating the right environment means keeping our space clean and safe. That means no tripping hazards like HPLC bottles or boxes on the floor, no used gloves or uncapped syringes on the counter. It also means creating a culture where we look out for one another, where it's okay to raise concerns. We should all feel responsible for watching out for one another.

As for mitigating risk, we can't remove it completely but we can be smart about how we manage it. Just like we look both ways before crossing a street, we need a pause, assess and plan before we do lab work. Programs like STOP and RAMP, and simple pre-work safety reviews can make a huge difference.

And finally, learning when things don't go as planned. You may not know how an experiment will turn out, but you should know what could go wrong. When something happens, what's your response? Do you ignore it and move on? Or do you stop and ask why? And learn from it? Every lesson we learn makes our lives safer, our science stronger and our teams more productive.

There are great resources out there to help you get started. Groups like the UC Center for Laboratory Safety and the American Chemical Society offer practical tools and guides. You can find helpful links on the website.

Because when we prioritize safety, we build better labs, we do stronger science and create a culture where everyone can thrive.

Thank you and be safe