The Department of Occupational Health and Safety would like to recognize Sue Campbell of Biological Sciences and her teaching labs, as January's Department of the Month. Sue has come up with some very resourceful solutions to the unique situation of the teaching labs, particularly in the larger introductory classes.

She has designed a checklist for each lab experiment. This lists all the supplies needed for the experiment at each lab workspace, as well as the required personal protective and safety equipment. Beside the list of supplies there is a checkbox which the prep staff marks when the workspace is set up to ensure all the supplies are ready. Also, there is a column to indicate the proper cleanup or disposal of the item and where it should be placed at the end of the lab session. Any special concerns are also included, such as the hazards and proper waste streams. The last column is a space for the Teaching Assistants to sign off that they have checked to verify the items have been cleaned up and/or disposed of properly. This is a concept that could be adapted for other teaching labs on campus.

Because of the quantity of materials for the large number of students and Teaching Assistants, Sue found a way to identify materials in test tubes- sometimes 300 for each experiment- through color coding with detailed lists defining the colors and labels for the racks. Ongoing experiments left in the teaching labs are labeled with the instructor's name in case there are any questions or problems.

In each of the teaching labs she has a safety bulletin board which contains waste disposal posters and emergency procedure cards. Because the labs change weekly, Sue posts the current lab's MSDSs on this board with pushpins so they can be changed weekly or easily accessed in the event of an emergency.

These are some of the innovations which have stood out in the introductory Biology laboratories. Congratulations to Sue for helping to protect the students while furthering their educational experiences.