Welcome from the Committee on Chemical Safety Chair

Welcome to the Committee on Chemical Safety’s website. In these times of an economic downturn, we cannot abandon our commitment to protecting chemists, students, society and the environment. Pressure will be placed on us to make cutbacks and some may be justified. These cutbacks can take many forms including reduction of positions, combining responsibilities, and facility operations. However, when making cutbacks we should explore approaches that do not increase risks and add greater costs that are linked to those decisions. Safety professionals should view these times as opportunities. Examine options that at first thought may be detrimental but in fact have little or no reduction to health and safety. Explore, energy saving relating to HVAC, hood use and lighting, chemical inventory, disposal, incineration, etc. Work closely with management and facilities personnel and explore opportunities to save money. Consider programs that improve the health of the employee and therefore reduce medical cost. I am sure that there are many opportunities and that your imagination and knowledge will help your employer or your company weathers this economic downturn.

While you are visiting the website, please check the safety resources that may help your organization. The Committee’s newest online publication is Security Vulnerability Checklist for Academic and Small Chemical Laboratory Facilities. This is designed to help laboratories identify security weaknesses they may have in order to protect facilities from terrorism and vandalism. Our pre-eminent publication is the 7th Edition of "Safety in Academic Chemistry Laboratories" (SACL) edited by Jay Young of Committee. The 7th Edition comes in two volumes: Volume 1 is for college and university undergraduate students; and Volume 2 is for faculty and administrators. Both the brochure and SACL can be downloaded from the publications section of this site. View the Committee’s most recent addition to this two-volume document “Eye Protection.” We are continually updating and adding information and free publication downloads to the site, so visit us again and check our progress. Your comments and suggestions are always welcome. Thank you for your interest in chemical safety!



Laurence Doemeny