Comment Summary

Provide details on the issues raised above or additional comments on the safety culture of your faculty here:
#	Response Date	Response Text
1	Apr 4, 2010 9:48 AM	Most new faculty from grad schools come with poor chemical hygiene and safety habits; research labs in their grad schools often do not follow industry standards and this poor training has resulted in problems trying to correct things. This is a major deficiency in PhD programs that must be addressed.
2	Apr 4, 2010 11:31 AM	Chemical are constantly improperly stored; improperly segregated. Workspaces are not prperly cleaned.
3	Apr 4, 2010 1:26 PM	The two Departmental Safety personnel conduct safety checks and training for all faculty including adjuncts, teaching assistants, and research personnel on annual and/or semester basis.
4	Apr 4, 2010 1:34 PM	The more junior faculty members have demonstrated a more heightened awareness than more senior faculty members; perhaps this derives from their early trainng differences.
5	Apr 4, 2010 1:34 PM	We have no faculty with disabilities. We occasionally have students with disabilities and deal with them as individual cases.
6	Apr 4, 2010 3:42 PM	We assume new faculty members receive basic safety training during graduate school.
7	Apr 4, 2010 5:09 PM	#4. We have no faculty with disabilities. #6. Currently there is no enforcement policy in place for delinquent faculty members.
8	Apr 4, 2010 5:43 PM	some are very conscientious, some are not
9	Apr 5, 2010 11:55 AM	We have no formal training program for faculty/staff. However, the chairwoman reviews all safety procedures with new faculty.
10	Apr 5, 2010 12:19 PM	We have a small department and hierarchical issues often inhibit review.
11	Apr 5, 2010 1:17 PM	The building seems to have been designed to promote faculty working alone. While we are safety conscious, each of us has blind spots.
12	Apr 5, 2010 2:04 PM	All faculty comply with CHP training, once.
13	Apr 5, 2010 2:11 PM	I am an acting chair from the Dean's office so my knowledge of departmental history is limited.
14	Apr 5, 2010 2:16 PM	It is difficult to choose an answer for a question that doesn't really apply to our department. We have no faculty diwh disabilities.
15	Apr 5, 2010 3:04 PM	Our faculty do not do independent research in the lab. Lab preparation would be the only time faculty would be working in the lab alone.
16	Apr 5, 2010 3:19 PM	For question 4...none of our current faculty have a disability requiring special accomodations, however, should that change, our safety program would definitely expand to include coverage of any relevant special issues.
17	Apr 5, 2010 3:24 PM	Again, very badly designed survey. Take 7 for example - there is no "overall". There is a percentage of faculty who do a very good job and a percentage who are average and a percentage who are not following best practices. It is this latter group who are the real problem for any institution.
18	Apr 5, 2010 3:47 PM	Unless new material is taught, my faculty would consider annual training of this nature to be insulting and a waste of their time. They consider themselves to be the experts on the hazards associated with their research.
19	Apr 5, 2010 4:36 PM	Proper safety is required and not part of the P and T process.
20	Apr 5, 2010 4:47 PM	Faculty evaluation at tenure is vague, Chairs have expressed concerns in letters of recommendation. . . but it is not formalized
21	Apr 5, 2010 4:53 PM	The level of safety conscientiousness in the department and at the university level has increased in recent years. We are very serious in improving our safety practices.
22	Apr 5, 2010 5:53 PM	Faculty do get trained initially, but often due to scheduling, training may occur after initial work begins. We are set up to do refresher training every 2 years, so annual refresher almost never occurs. We haven't dealt with any disabled Chemistry faculty to date, so no specific provisions have been made.
23	Apr 5, 2010 6:37 PM	In a small department, the individual faculty are the ones doing the oversight. While there is no formal evaluation of safety, disregard for safety is unacceptable.
24	Apr 5, 2010 7:00 PM	While there is no formal faculty safety program, all of the chemistry faculty are PhD's and have extensive experience in laboratories. Of course, some are more lab-wise than others but there is no lack of safety expertise.
25	Apr 5, 2010 8:08 PM	Safety culture depends on the department involved. My answers refer to the Chemistry Dept., not to Biology or Fine Arts, for example.
26	Apr 5, 2010 8:21 PM	Laboratory safety training is provided, but not mandated for continuing faculty. Observence of good safety practices are part of the annual evaluations when warranted.
27	Apr 5, 2010 9:17 PM	Safety and Tenure: Safety is not listed as a campus requirement for tenure, but in our current climate if poor safety practices were being used the person would have serious concerns raised in a tenure review committee.
28	Apr 5, 2010 10:43 PM	We have had students with disabilities, but not faculty. We have been able to accommodate the students with disabilities.
29	Apr 5, 2010 11:02 PM	Since we are a small department much of what we do as faculty less formal but maybe more continuous.
30	Apr 6, 2010 12:57 PM	In general we are much more aware of these issues in student labs than we might be in our individual research work.
31	Apr 6, 2010 3:47 PM	We do not have any formal training for faculty but all student workers in the department receive training once a semester.
32	Apr 6, 2010 4:08 PM	One of the questions in "working alone" is exactly what constitutes this and what is safe to do alone.
33	Apr 6, 2010 4:47 PM	We have no faculty members or staff with disabilities-so the plan at present does not address those issues.
34	Apr 6, 2010 11:38 PM	Nothing to add
35	Apr 7, 2010 1:17 PM	We have strong support from Facilities to keep hoods in repair and from the University Env Health and Safety organization.
36	Apr 7, 2010 3:03 PM	Specific faculty disregard the importance of safety. But constant discussion of safety and hazardous materials management is sloooowly having an effect.
37	Apr 7, 2010 3:14 PM	Again, we need improvement
38	Apr 7, 2010 3:34 PM	Item 3: adjuncts are given the same level of oversight as full-time faculty, which is to say, not much.
39	Apr 8, 2010 2:06 PM	Disabilities issues are handled when they occur
40	Apr 8, 2010 9:39 PM	We don't have any faculty with diabilities, if we did we would accommodate them.
41	Apr 9, 2010 1:31 AM	Even students checking into Freshman as well as upper level classes have to watch safety films and receive other instructions before beginning each year/semesters lab classes.
42	Apr 10, 2010 12:50 AM	Remember that we are a completely undergraduate department; faculty research is not as important as it might be at a Research I institution.
43	Apr 11, 2010 2:52 PM	We have no faculty with disabilities. Faculty members are the worst offenders when it comes to good practices - mostly in terms of keeping good records of what they have checked out of the stockroom. The students are managable.
44	Apr 11, 2010 3:31 PM	We do not have adjunct faculty members, so question 3 is not valid. (If we did they would have the same treatment as other faculty.) Safety is left up to the individual instructor.
45	Apr 11, 2010 5:05 PM	We actually provide a lot of training for adjunct faculty and teaching assistants, but none really for returning faculty. We offer an open orientation session at the beginning of the academic year, but the returning faculty won't attend. The oversight by them of their own TAs varies a lot. Also, our main training person is the stockroom manager and he does not really take training very seriously so we need a better system.
46	Apr 11, 2010 6:18 PM	Although the topic of safety has been discussed many times with the academic administration, they have shown little or no interest in it so far. We have suggested such things as putting aside some money to train a voluteer faculty member in safety procedures every year but money seems short for this. Also, in order to give the science faculty some protection from possible law suites we have suggested liability insurance or, at least, having the students sign a disclaimer for every laboratory course they take but the administration refuses to allow this either, saying that the institution would be at risk if this happens. This certainly lowers the possibility of student or personal research being conducted, and it raises the anxiety level of the faculty and adjuncts invoved in laboratory teaching.
47	Apr 11, 2010 8:08 PM	Certain procedures (e.g. use of ionizing radiation) require annual training.
48	Apr 12, 2010 12:15 AM	Question 6 isn't really appropriate to this college - most tenure and review evaluations involve no science faculty (we are too small a college to do otherwise). Safety training is an issue that is on the schedule to be addressed, but is at least a year away at best.
49	Apr 12, 2010 1:37 AM	Even is training is available and given, it is still the responsibility of the individual faculty to carry out the policies that are established. An issue is the ability to police and enforce those safety policies with limited resources and personnel.
50	Apr 12, 2010 9:44 AM	Faculty awareness of and compliance with safety rules varies widely with the individual. There is no mechanism to correct poor safety performance of senior faculty.
51	Apr 12, 2010 2:38 PM	We do not have Adjunct faculty in teaching or research labs
52	Apr 12, 2010 3:12 PM	The use of standardized approved SOP's and procedures for lab-specific modifications to such SOP's (requiring approval by University Lab Safety Committee) allow for safe scientific inquiry.
53	Apr 12, 2010 6:09 PM	We do not have adjunct faculty involved in class laboratories.
54	Apr 12, 2010 6:13 PM	4. we have no faculty with disabilities at this time.
55	Apr 12, 2010 6:34 PM	We do not use adjunct faculty in our department. While safety practices are not part of the tenure and reappointment process, they are discussed with faculty following any accidents or when concerns are raised by our Office of Environmental Health and Safety. Ongoing refresher training is currently handled via a newsletter sent to all PIs and most lab workers (with instructions to the PI to share with their staff). This will be supplemented by a written form beginning in August 2010.
56	Apr 12, 2010 9:09 PM	on # 3 & 4: there are none
57	Apr 13, 2010 10:34 AM	We are recognizing the need for better safety training for newer faculty emphasizing their increased responsibilities from being just a postdoc or grad student
58	Apr 13, 2010 1:58 PM	Some faculty are better than others with regards to personal adherance of safety policies and the enforcement of sfaty policies in academic laboratories. Compliance is generally achieved by 'spot' inspections conducted by the CHO.
59	Apr 13, 2010 2:51 PM	Individual faculty members vary in their safety efforts. There is oversight of the teaching lab facility, but little oversight of research labs.
60	Apr 13, 2010 4:12 PM	Faculty do not always enforce safety rules such as wearing goggles in the lab
61	Apr 13, 2010 9:06 PM	Faculty do the best that they can to promote the best safety practice possible
62	Apr 14, 2010 7:48 PM	We don't have anyone to run a safety training program or to oversee adjuncts.
63	Apr 15, 2010 5:54 PM	question 6: evaluation criteria are dictated by contract and safety practices are not explicitly covered in these criteria.
64	Apr 16, 2010 2:00 PM	6. The issue currently only comes up if there is a problem.
65	Apr 18, 2010 12:15 PM	Some faculty members allow students to work alone in the laboratory.
66	Apr 18, 2010 1:08 PM	There is a huge disparity in safety awareness of new faculty based on their previous experiences; e.g. those from national labs or medical facilities may be very safety-conscious, sometime those from overseas labs are not Once they are in control of their own labs I find it difficult to change these previous attitudes.
67	Apr 18, 2010 2:29 PM	While I would say that we are basically no different than other colleges in our peer group with respect to safety issues, the lack of safety protocol is concerning.
68	Apr 18, 2010 2:32 PM	The practice of having in-house inspections, in addition to the mandatory EHSO inspections, has significantly improved the safety climate in the department. We don't have any faculty with disabilities.
69	Apr 18, 2010 3:11 PM	Q 3 is not applicable. We do not use adjunct (part time/temporary) faculty for ANY classes. Q 4. We have not had to deal with this issue yet, as we have no faculty with disabilities. Q6. This year, we have just introduced a safety component into all academic faculty annual evaluations. However, it is not an explicit component of tenure evals.
70	Apr 18, 2010 7:47 PM	We do not have any faculty members with disabilities.
71	Apr 18, 2010 8:22 PM	Every laboratory inspection results in some citations that require corrections. Hence, I have to conclude that faculty sometimes do not follow best safety practices all of the time.
72	Apr 18, 2010 9:25 PM	Some faculty members are very conscientious about safety and some are not. There are some very different cultural expectations about what a faculty members' personal behavior should be and what it means to train students specifically in safety.
73	Apr 18, 2010 11:09 PM	We have greatly increased our awareness of safety and safety practices in an academic environment from what it was just 5 years ago. This continues to improve as we go forward. The faculty with disabilities question above is currently N/A. If one of our faculty had a disability we would accommodate this, in part, by adjusting our safety training to include their disability as well as to update the entire faculty on any issues this might require to support their safety and that of their students.
74	Apr 19, 2010 12:35 PM	We do not have any faculty with disabilities.
75	Apr 19, 2010 2:54 PM	small faculty size creates "buddy policy" difficulties.
76	Apr 19, 2010 3:27 PM	re: quest #6--Past chairmen have not considered this important; I hope to change that.
77	Apr 19, 2010 4:30 PM	#6 - if there was a large safety concern with a faculty member, this would definitely enter into their annual evaluation.
78	Apr 19, 2010 5:05 PM	These questions appear geared toward a larger research institution rather than a small academic department so it is difficult to answer questions couched in this context. We share most/all our resources including lab space and so we are in constant communication with each other regarding any lab safety issues or concerns.
79	Apr 19, 2010 7:36 PM	I am not sure whether safety practices are evalutated for tenure.
80	Apr 20, 2010 12:49 AM	We do not have a graduate program. Research with students usually lasts one or possibly two semesters. By the time the student learns the safety precautions and basic skills they are gone.
81	Apr 20, 2010 2:03 PM	This varies greatly, one of the big problems for safety professionals is that new grad students hear one thing in class and then observe their faculty mentor not following PPE or other recomendations.
82	Apr 20, 2010 2:58 PM	The safety culture is very much a 'you can't tell me what to do in my research lab'. We are much more concerned with student safety than faculty safety. I believe the focus on students is important, but teach by example should not be overlooked.
83	Apr 20, 2010 4:03 PM	I am answering these questions as a non-faculty member of the department (#6 and 7) and can answer only as to my impression. Tenure-track faculty rarely work in labs (#2). Grad students and post-docs have gotten initial and recurrent safety training. Regular faculty are supportive of the safety objectives of the Department and University.
84	Apr 20, 2010 4:28 PM	An annual presentation to address item 2 is being considered.
85	Apr 24, 2010 12:15 AM	Annual Safety Program is a campus online review application with questions but is limited in scope. It focuses on hazardous waste and hazardous materials management. Other safety related annual "training" refreshers are required for limited set of specific code-required topics such as "Blood-borne" Pathogens or certain radioactive isotopes and equipment usage.