The lab safety group at Princeton EHS conducts lab safety training, handles inspections, research materials shipping, consults on equipment, responds to/investigates incidents, works with departments on chemical safety protocols and manages the disposal of waste.
For our second of five staff profiles to mark the 50th anniversary of the Office of Environmental Health & Safety, we interviewed Stanley Howell, Chelsea McDonnell, Chris Niles and Joan Hutzly about their roles at EHS.
Stanley Howell, Program Manager, Chemical Safety
Stanley oversees the implementation of the chemical safety program and is the primary contact for incident investigations, regulatory issues, chemical storage and safety consultations.
Howell’s primary role at EHS is working with researchers to meet their regulatory obligations and ethical responsibilities and, just as importantly, “allow[ing] researchers the opportunity to successfully pursue the scientific endeavors that brought them to Princeton, while going home at the end of each day, safe, intact, and none the worse for any of the hazards they have been working with or around during the day,” he says.
He most appreciates the moments, “either hard won or serendipitous, when the realization dawns that good/smart science and safe/responsible science are actually synonymous.”
Chelsea McDonnell, Health and Safety Technician
Chelsea can frequently be found “out and about” on campus. Splitting her time between laboratory safety and industrial hygiene, she delivers supplies, conducts radiation surveys, fit tests staff for respirators and helps handle lab waste, among many other duties. When in the office, Chelsea is an important part of EHS’s outreach effort, answering phones for the Covid Connector and even utilizing her design skills (including creating EHS’s 50th anniversary logo!) when not filing paperwork related to her technician activities.
Chelsea most appreciates her co-workers, “who are not just knowledge but also passionate about the work they do here”—but can’t resist a nod to our (mostly) reliable fleet of club cars, without which her job would be next to impossible.
Joan Hutzly, Laboratory Safety Specialist
Joan, a living legend at EHS who has been profiled before, works primarily on inspection and maintenance of sensitive lab equipment (especially chemical fume hoods), prepares and updates Emergency Information Posters and other records in the SHIELD database, assists with radiation surveys, hazardous waste, spill cleans-ups and odor investigations. She is also well-known for collecting asbestos and lead paint samples, taking noise and air quality measurements and calibrating numerous instruments.
Joan appreciates the “very supportive office that is EHS. We all work together and help each other when needed. I also appreciate a job where I can move around a beautiful campus and interact with great people.”
Chris Niles, Senior Laboratory Safety Specialist
Chris’ primary responsibility is managing EHS’ chemical waste program. He also does lab inspections and surveys, supports chemical safety efforts generally and assists with issues related to hazardous materials shipping. He was the primary organizer of our recent Lab Safety Homecoming event, which featured exhibits, games, prizes and a featured speaker.
Chris enjoys meeting “all the amazing researchers on campus” and getting to observe and learn from them. “I also get to keep them safe while doing their research and working with hazardous materials in the lab,” he adds. “Dealing with chemical waste might not be as glamorous but it’s still a way for me to make sure these hazardous materials are not getting into our environment and causing issues.”
What does “Environmental Health and Safety” mean to you?
Chelsea: I think the “secret” that makes EHS, EHS, is how it operates as an efficient team. And for this to work delegation and support must follow. And that is this office's specialty. While, yes, most offices can delegate, what happens here, especially over the pandemic, is on a totally different level. The amount that this office puts into making sure backups and protocols are in place is amazing! This is what allows this office to function, so the day-to-day operations gets done, along with whatever incidents may happen on any given day, all on top of a pandemic.
Joan: EHS means supporting the campus community so that the work that the various groups are trying to perform is done in the safest way possible and in regulatory compliance. EHS provides advice, technical information and often helps facilitate different groups working together to achieve an improved situation.
Chris: EHS has such an important meaning here at Princeton, making sure staff and faculty are safe in and outside the lab while not hindering any research or work that might be going on at the same time. It also refers to health and safety beyond that: the health of the environment and making sure the campus is safe in all areas.
Stanley: I still see “Environmental Health and Safety” as three interconnected elements—Environment, Health, and Safety—that together provide a roadmap for shaping one’s safety ethos.
- “Safety” can be seen as the perception of self; one’s well-being and security. As self-preservation tends to be generally innately understood, it is often the starting point to aid others in visualizing and understanding whether an action or decision is reasonable and responsible.
For example, if I try to do this experiment am I still going to have all of my fingers?
- “Health” is a conduit to extend the understanding of one’s actions and decisions beyond the self. If something is capable of causing you harm, it is often a manageable leap in thought to understand that it may be harmful to another’s health and well-being.
For example, if I am wearing special personal protective equipment (PPE) because I am worried that my experiment might splash/explode/etc, should my colleague sitting at a desk a few feet away or walking by my bench be taking similar precautions?
- “Environment” is a further extension of perception of how our actions affect the world around us, even if the potential for harm seemingly does not directly or immediately affect us at all.
For example, if you are working with a material that when a few grams of material would be atmospheric equivalent to a ton of carbon dioxide emission, should you conduct careful leak checks, implement strategies for capturing discharges so that it may be managed for controlled destruction or reclamation rather than being casually discharged out the building’s exhaust stack?