A Time for Change

At least 90% of all significant chemical accidents have repeatedly occurred in chemical research laboratories year after year throughout the US. Attitudes about safety need to change -- including rejection of sources of knowledge and scorn for exerting imaginative effort -- so that the similarities in dissimilar operations and situations can be established and actions taken to prevent tragic and costly accidents from recurring. Employees who perform the work itself know many things about their tasks that safety practitioners and management do not, and they should be listened to. Many accidents that seem impossible in the laboratory do in fact occur in the "real world." Growing numbers of chief executive officers are becoming committed to the identification and positive control of high-potential risks that can help achieve the credibility that ensures employee cooperation in preventing needless losses.