"Researchers, staff and students; across labs, clinics, field sites, and classrooms. This gathering represents more than compliance or policy. It’s a reflection of our culture. And culture. Not checklists, is what determines whether safety is taken seriously."
The campus-wide event for staff, faculty, and students to learn about mitigating health and safety hazards in STEM fields is sponsored by the College of Science and took place in the Cleone Peterson Eccles Alumni House.
"At the U," continued Rothwell, "with world-class research happening in complex, often high-risk environments, the stakes are high. We work with chemicals, equipment, data, live subjects, and often under pressure. And that’s exactly why safety isn’t an add-on. It’s fundamental. If we want to lead, in science, in medicine, in engineering — we have to start by leading in how we protect the people doing the work."
David Thomas, safety director of the new Colleges of Liberal Arts & Sciences has, with other representatives, including Fred Monette, executive director of the University of Utah's department of Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) organized the event which drew more than 350 participants from across both the main and health campuses and featured keynotes, vaccines, a tabling area and break out sessions with some hands-on activities. Some of those activities included basic first-aid, including CPR training and deployment of fire extinguishers — outside and upwind, of course — courtesy of the university fire marshal and training on the use of the Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) which are conveniently situated throughout campus.
AEDs are a critical component in treating sudden cardiac arrest.
The free, collaborative event was co-hosted by the Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine, the John and Marcia Price College of Engineering, College of Pharmacy, College of Health and EHS. "Continual safety improvement at the University of Utah, whether in a lab, a classroom, the field, an office or a patient-facing setting requires consistent, intentional integration of best practices into our work," says Thomas. "It doesn't happen in a single day. However, STEM Safety Day serves as a critical touchpoint for our University community members to learn, share and refocus our efforts."
An Institutional Value
In addition to more technical presentations related to safety protocols like hazard recognition and the tools, training and equipment related to field safety, sessions included Mental Health Crisis De-Escalation Training with Amanda McNab from the Huntsman Mental Health Institute and Values-Driven Stress Reduction with Occupational Health Psychologist Ryan Olson, among many others.
"Safety is not the responsibility of one department or committee," said Rothwell, again in her opening remarks. "It is an institutional value. And it’s an operational imperative. The idea that 'there’s no job so important it can’t be done safely' isn’t just a slogan — it’s a standard we have to hold ourselves to, especially as our research enterprise grows in ambition and complexity."
STEM Safety Day helps create shared language and shared expectations at the U among staff, faculty and students engaged in science (including the health sciences), technology, engineering and math. It also recognizes those who have led out in notable ways, during the previous year. Plaques and prize money were given to five EHS Partners in Safety and nine honorable mentions where also acknowledged. Work of this kind, as demonstrated by awardees and many others at the U, will help the university navigate ongoing uncertainty in federal funding, according to Rothwell, who reminded the participants that the U continues to expand its research portfolio "in areas where we have demonstrated strength and where there is clear national need."
A renewed focus of late on research with real-world implications and applications to benefit the public means not just growth in different research sectors at the U, but greater responsibility in and around that work. Safety and health are key to that greater responsibility, and this is why the annual gathering of STEM Safety Day matters.
By David Pace