For the third year in a row, the Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) department observed Lab Safety Week, a time dedicated to recognizing the efforts of laboratory health and safety programs. Additionally, the department uses this time to answer any lab safety-related questions from students and faculty.

Stephanie Araiza, a radiation safety specialist with EHS and one of the University of Houston Lab Safety Week organizers, said this event allows the department to put a face to the safety emails they send out and get feedback from the campus research community.

This year, EHS hosted four meet-and-greet events across the University of Houston System, with three at UH and the fourth at UH at Sugar Land. Over the course of the four days, EHS had 198 people stop by to speak with them.

The first three events were in Health 2, Engineering, and the Science and Engineering Research Center building. Araiza noted the department selected buildings with high foot-traffic and the potential for speaking with student researchers, the group most likely to be working in labs.

Students and faculty who stopped to speak with EHS had the option of answering lab-safety-related questions or playing Plinko to win prizes such as pens, first-aid kits, stress plush toys, or cooling towels. Additionally, those who asked questions, provided comments, or suggestions during the event also wrote them on a post-it note and placed them on a whiteboard.

Some of the questions/comments left on the board included:

• You guys rock! 

• How do I get safety training? 

• Is it okay to store water containers on the floor? 

• Where does all my lab waste go? 

Ethan Chambliss and Sam Wetzel, both senior optometry majors, stopped at Health 2 to participate in the event. Both seniors said they were confident in their lab safety answers but quickly learned they were incorrect.

Chambliss and Wetzel, however, did leave the event having learned something.

“I now understand the concept of engineered safety devices,” said Chambliss.

Mechanical Engineering sophomore Miguel Fernandez stopped by the Lab Safety Week event at the Engineering building. The sophomore said he wanted to stop and speak with EHS because he wanted to see if he could learn new insight about lab safety, which he did.

“Something new that I learned today is that engineering controls are usually set in place when administrative controls are not enough,” said Fernandez.

Graduate student Yogita Pal also stopped by EHS’s table at the Engineering building. The Material Science and Engineering major asked about the chemicals the UH lab community uses and how safe they are.

“They gave me a reference of names for EHS representatives in the engineering building who can help me,” said Pal.

EHS Safety Manager John McNeely, who was part of the group at the Engineering building, said some of the common questions EHS received included generic ones like, ‘How do I do this safely?’ to more detailed ones like, ‘What happens to the gas that’s exhausted out of my fume hood?’

McNeely said the amount and type of questions they get has varied based on the location.

“One of the things where people tend to be more open are colleges where professors and grad students deal with us more,” said McNeely.

That was the case when EHS held the event at the Science and Research Center where Chemistry professor Shoujun Xu stopped by.

“They make our lives so much easier,” said Xu about having EHS staff facilitate meet-and-greet events and speaking with students during Lab Safety Week.