From: DCHAS-L Discu ssion List [mailto:DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**list.uvm.edu] On Behalf Of List Moderator
Sent: Thursday, August 26, 2010 11:59 AM
To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**LIST.UVM.EDU
Subject: [DCHAS-L] 3 Re: [DCHAS-L] Safety Training

From: rudygerlach**At_Symbol_Here**aol.com

Date: August 26, 2010 11:43:40 AM EDT

Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Safety Training

I have been reading all of the responses to your request and find them interesting but don't remember reading a response where the question of "why are workers" missing safety training classes.  Maybe be fore we get  involved in determining how to get the workers to attend train ing we need to find out why they are avoiding it.  Having trained 90,000 people over a 30 year period I have several ideas.  To mention one, is the training worth attending?  Also, getting them in the classroom is only part of the question--what are they taking out of the classroom .

Rudy Gerlach, Ph.D., CET

Gerlach Trainging & Consulting

rudygerlach**At_Symbol_Here**aol.com

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From: kauletta**At_Symbol_Here**notes.cc.sunysb.ed u

Date: August 26, 2010 11:31:06 AM EDT

Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Safety Training

Lynn, Rob & the rest of the list - don't misunderstand us academic safety fol ks! We'd love to have a stronger, more compliant training program and we all realize that lack of safety training is directly related to increased accidents. Universities are not set up the same way as private companies, t ho. Department Heads/Chairs may or may not have any impact over their PIs who w ork off of research dollars. The turn over is incredible in labs - students, po st docs, faculty come & go all semester long. All lab workers are not "employees" either - there are many students conducting research that are unpaid (not TAs, GA, etc either). These aren't excuses for not getting it done, its just our reality. We work with departments & say we have mandatory training, but if someone misses the class, there isn't always a repercussion. That's why we work to offer training in as many ways as possi ble (live, on line, email reminders, handouts, etc). Having NRC license requirements does mean our rad folks make sure they have the training, but those requirements are not in place for EPA & OSHA training. 

Just my opinion, not the opinion of my employer 

Kim Auletta

Lab Safety Specialist

EH&S    Z=6200

Stony Brook University

kauletta**At_Symbol_Here**notes.cc.sunysb.edu

EH&S Web site: http://www.stonybr ook.edu/ehs/lab/

Remember to wash your hands!

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From: ACTSNYC**At_Symbol_Here**cs.com

Date: August 26, 2010 11:35:27 AM EDT

Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Safety Training

>In a message dated 8/26/2010 11:07:32 AM Eastern Daylight Time, info**At_Symbol_Here**ILPI.COM writes: 

Such good common sense.  And somewhere along the way its gotten lost.  When I took my first chemistry courses at the U of Wisconsin in the 1950s, you couldn't get into your first lab class until you produced the pink slip giv en to each person who went through the safety orientation.   Safety training for students shouldn't be up for debate.  Monona< /o:p>

Academia needs to wake up and have a simple outright ban on all laboratory work unti l the worker has completed their mandatory safety training.    We don't allow folks to start driving and then "get around to" getti ng their driver's licenses, do we?