The impact of OSHA's Laboratory Standard on undergraduate safety education

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration implemented its Laboratory Standard in 1990 - it is a performance standard designed to protect employees working in laboratories. It required organizations to have Chemical Hygiene Plans, Chemical Hygiene Officers, examinations for chemical exposures, and training/information for its employees. The response of the academic community was to adopt the Lab Standard for employees and for its many students. The Lab Standard essentially replaced safety education for students. As a result most college graduates with laboratory-based degrees have not been educated in safety and did not develop strong safety ethics. The paper discusses the impact of the Lab Standard in academia and how the shortcomings might be remedied.