Resources for improving safety culture, training, and awareness in the academic laboratory

Much of the synthesis and characterization of coordination complexes described in this volume was carried out in academic laboratories. With safety in the academic laboratory a current topic of national conversation, we felt it was appropriate to include a chapter that captures some emerging perspectives and recent developments in safe practices in academic laboratories. In this chapter, we aim to share our personal perspectives on laboratory safety. These perspectives are informed by our own experiences, as faculty Principal Investigators (PIs) and graduate student laboratory safety officers (LSOs) at the University of MinnesotadTwin Cities (UMN) and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC). There is no single correct approach to safety in chemistry and as such we will refrain from specific prescriptions. Instead, we aim to share experiences and resources we have found useful while offering general advice on how to approach safety. We are writing primarily to those involved in academic chemistry research: high school, undergraduate, and graduate students performing research; postdoctoral scholars and scientific staff; faculty or principal investigators; and personnel from campus health and safety offices (here referred to broadly as EHS for environment, health, and safety). We believe that the safest research environment will emerge from collaborative and supportive interactions among all constituents, wherein open communication fosters trust and innovation.¹ Researchers of all levels can feel empowered to think creatively and critically about safety, to enact change at the group or institutional level, and to speak freely about concerns with their peers, faculty, and EHS....