The biology, chemistry and engineering and applied sciences departments have each set up safety committees, which meet monthly.
The committee ensures that the department complies with ever-changing government regulations in laboratory safety and hazardous waste disposal.
"I think the most important function of the committee is to serve as an information source, to disseminate information on safety, hazardous waste and chemical handling, and we also use it as a learning vehicle," said chemistry safety committee chairperson Alan K. Long.
The committee recently instituted a peroxidisable materials policy, under which chemicals with particular explosive qualities are dated when they are delivered to the department. They must be used or disposed of within a set period of time, Long says.
If a dangerous incident occurs within a laboratory, the instructor fills out an incident report form and discusses the incident at the next safety committee meeting. The committee discusses how--or if--the incident could have been prevented and how it was handled.
The bulletin board outside Lenny Solomon's office in Mallinckrodt Laboratory is filled with articles on "safety news." It includes emergency phone numbers, an article titled "Contact Lenses and Chemicals: an update" and a display of different types of gloves and their uses. There are pages about compressed gas cylinders, hydrofluoric acid and hazardous waste, amid a safety report about incidents, analysis and prevention.
Solomon is the research program manager in the division of engineering and applied sciences and chairs the division's safety committee, which combined with the physics safety committee a few years ago.
"In general, Harvard has a very good record," Solomon says. "When you consider all the varied types of research that's done here and the hazards that are involved in many research labs, we have a very good safety record, an excellent safety record."
Solomon's committee functions similarly to Long's. It includes a mandatory lecture training session with Littleboy and an annual refresher training course offered via web interface. Staff and faculty can speak about any safety-related topic in the safety seminar series.
STUDENT REACTIONS
Biology concentrator Michael S. Calderwood '99 has taken about two science courses per semester during his four years at Harvard, "so I spend almost every day in the bio labs." He spent two and a half years working for Millenium Pharmaceuticals, a Cambridge biotechnological firm, and has worked for the Ministry of Health in Brazil since the summer.
"Those were unfortunate events," he says of the recent Harvard laboratory spills. "But when you're working in a lab, you try to control for every event possible.
"As far as lab safety here, it's top notch," he says.
Calderwood says that in other labs, workers were reluctant to report mistakes because they thought it would reflect badly on them. However, Calderwood says this occurs less frequently at Harvard.
Okwudiri N. Onyedum '02, a student in Chemistry 5: "Introduction to Principles in Chemistry," says the chemistry department makes a big deal about laboratory safety.
"It's almost like they try to scare you about being safe, about EPA fires and everything," he says.
David S. Fergemann '98, head teaching fellow of Chemistry 30: "Organic Chemistry," says the department makes a great effort to ensure that its students remain safe.
"There's constant re-evaluation as incidents come up," he says.