While other schools are struggling to keep their science laboratories safe during experimentation, Fairfield officials say they have found a good mix of strict guidelines and careful testing that have ensured no major incidents occur.
Fairfield is not known for its large-scale testing or experimental programs, but with some of the majors in the College of Arts ‘ Sciences department requiring testing as part of the curriculum, lab safety remains an issue.
During a class visit to one of Bannow’s labs, Academic Safety Officer Dr. Raymond Poincelot said Fairfield has always taken a proactive approach to lab safety. This involves everything from placing safety signs before they are required to installing new safety measures in the new science wing. In addition, Poincelot and others responsible for safety, meet the demands of the government regulations, by doing things such as attending 40 hours of training as a result of the use of radiation in experiments in the labs.
“We had only four spills last year,” said Joseph Bouchard, Fairfield Unviersity fire marshal, “but only one in the [Bannow] Science Center. The science center and faculty do a better job” keeping things safe than other groups on campus, he added.
Due to federal law Title V, a prevention control system for spills must be in place through fire and safety services. In the science labs, the most recent issue occurred last year when a mercury thermometer broke in a lab in Bannow, costing the school $6,000 for an outside contractor to clean up the spill. Poincelot said there have been no major incidents of lab safety violations in more than 20 years.
Poincelot noted that the labs go through many audits on a routine basis. Waste disposal is handled carefully, stored in 30 gallon drums that contain at most one-fourth the amount they could, so they can be carefully packaged and wrapped to avoid breaking open during transport.
The issue of human testing is also an issue. Dr. Kurt Schlichting professor of sociology and member of a board that oversees human testing, also said that no major issues have occurred under his watch. Part of this, however, lies in the fact that human testing experiments are rare.
“Usually when a test occurs, it is done at a hospital,” Schlichting said. “The experiment is passed through both our board and the hospital’s board.
Both lab and human safety experiments are governed by federally mandated boards. However, while Fairfield has had a clean record for safety, other schools have had experiments that have gone awry. (see below sidebar about a recent Northwestern University story)
Officials say that although there have not been major problems in Fairfield labs, they are still not taking the issue of lab safety lightly. There will be cabinets in every lab of the new science wing, hoods to ensure venting of any hazardous fumes, and phones in every lab so that spills can be quickly reported.
Many of these improvements are not required, but fall into the proactive nature of the school’s safety procedures.
Ultimately, Fairfield’s safety inspectors are working to ensure that the labs remain safe and nothing major happens. With significant safety issues at labs in universities across the United States over the past few years, Fairfield’s plan is to ensure that they do not end up on the growing list of schools who have had students harmed by such incidents.
Northwestern University Statistics:
* A 24-year-old at Johns Hopkins University died in June during an asthma experiment when her lungs and kidneys failed.
* The government is scrutinizing Duke University and the University of Rochester due to a failure to protect volunteer subjects. Duke’s testing facilities were also shut down in 1999.
* And Jesse Gelsinger, who was involved in a gene therapy experiment at the University of Pennsylvania, died in 1999 when the experiment triggered an overwhelming response from his immune system. According to the school’s newspaper, The Pennsylvanian, in 2001 teaching assistants were given only one day of training and had to learn things like lab safety on the job.
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