Health and Safety Officer Henry S. Littleboy, who works for the Harvard Environmental Health and Safety Department (EH&S), says, "The only person who can make you safe is you."

"So Harvard's policy, which is my policy, is to have the students become very conscious of safety and be therefore responsible for their own safety," he says.

Karen Lawley, head of biology and biochemistry laboratory safety, agrees that proper training is crucial.

"We are mandated by OSHA [Occupational Safety and Health Administration] to make sure that everyone knows what hazards are in the lab and that they are sufficiently protected against them," she says.

To this end, all chemistry students and staff are instructed in laboratory safety.

Graduate teaching fellows receive basic lectures in safety and waste handling, and they can take a one-day course in first aid and CPR if they wish. Tucci also meets with the head chemistry teaching fellows each semester to instruct them on how to teach their own staff about safety.

Students who work in laboratories must also undergo a one-day orientation of emergency equipment and procedures.

WASTE DISPOSAL

Special measures are taken to isolate hazardous waste as well.

Hazardous waste is stored in capped cylinders and segregated by types of waste under ventilated hoods. The cylinders lie in secondary containers, in case they spill. All cylinders are labeled with the chemical name, hazards and dates. Cylinders are inspected by safety officers once a week and by external companies twice a week.

The chemistry department's safety committee has set up a network of 70 to 80 satellite accumulation areas, with one in each laboratory.

Before disposal, chemicals are moved from satellite areas to main accumulation areas, which include explosion-proof lighting, knock-out windows and a specific type of flooring. The division of engineering and applied sciences' laboratories also use the accumulation area system.

Every laboratory is equipped with a computer linked to material safety data sheets. The teaching fellow types in the name of a chemical, and information regarding the hazards, first aid, storage and handling of the chemical appears.

"In any laboratory, you're going to have accidents, no matter how much you try to protect," Lawley says. "We are sufficiently protected here; few accidents occur with injury. We do learn from your accidents, too."

SAFETY VALVES