Incorporating Identity Safety into the Laboratory Safety Culture

Abstract

Chemistry practitioners, particularly in educational settings, often associate building strong safety cultures with compliance or regulatory requirements around laboratory glass-ware, equipment, flammable and incompatible materials, signage, container labels, and safety data sheets. Other fields of science also emphasize biohazardous materials, animal handling, human subject, and ergonomics. However, little attention in the literature has gone toward describing the interpersonal interactions and behaviors affecting the physical and emotional safety and wellbeing of laboratory trainees and personnel from marginalized backgrounds. This work unifies known approaches of building strong safety cultures and principles for preventing identity cues that threaten safety within a laboratory environment. Specifically, this work uses the four principles of chemical safety RAMP model as a conceptual framework for integrating identity safety within the laboratory safety culture.

Keywords: diversity; identity safety; inclusion; laboratory safety.

Figure 1.

Hierarchy of identity safety controls. Applying to the general hierarchy of safety controls various aspects of minimizing the risk of identity-threat cues from the laboratory environment by using behavioral and organizational strategies developed to enhance identity-safe environments.