The Campus Safety, Health, and Environmental Association named Taylor Eighmy as a recipient of its 2016 Campus Leaders Who Care Award in recognition of his work to enhance laboratory and research safety at universities across the country. The Campus Leaders Awards were presented last week at the association’s annual conference, held in Austin, Texas.
Eighmy, who is vice chancellor for research and engagement, serves as co-chair of the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities’ Task Force on Lab Safety. The task force produced A Guide to Implementing a Safety Culture in Our Universities in May to help institutions deal with issues of research safety. The guide provides a set of recommendations and best practices for inculcating a culture of research safety in the lab.
“This award really reflects the great work of the entire APLU Lab Safety Task Force,” said Eighmy. “We were very fortunate to have assembled a great team that tackled a challenging task. I can say unequivocally that we all believe that now is the time for universities to proactively nurture and grow their culture around improving lab safety on campus.”
Designed for university presidents and chancellors who have pledged to commit their university to a renewed culture of research safety, the guide and website include twenty recommendations, each with an analysis of its alignment with other foundational reports, reading lists, tools, strategies, illustrative examples, and/or best practices drawn from a community of stakeholders. These resources were selected to help campus teams navigate the process of strengthening their culture of safety.