I have heard the same story as what Ben Owens shared.

It's nearly impossible to compare rates for the reasons already mentioned and because:

•        BLS data does not include students unless they are being compensated for the work they were doing.  Some universities include graduate students receiving a stipend, some do not.

•        Most universities are exempt from reporting, but are asked to do so voluntarily.

•        There is no mechanism for collecting laboratory incident data on a national level.

•        It's not easy to pull out lab-related incident data from BLS statistics.  For example, if our rate was 2.3 per 100 in 2015, maybe one of the incidents was lab-related, while the vast majority were maintenance, housekeeping and culinary-related.

Several universities have compared their own statistics to the national data and those of some industrial companies known for their robust safety programs and have not found a significant difference in rates, meaning close to (or even lower than) the Dow or Dupont stats, not an order of magnitude greater. 

Nonetheless, the safety culture in academia is immensely important, not just to reduce injuries and illnesses, but to start the good habits early.  The mechanism for managing safety in academia is very different than for industry - the lines of management, the access to a student's time, so much more.  I know that most of my colleagues take this responsibility very, very seriously.  ACS, National Academies, APLU and others have helped universities look beyond their EHS programs to faculty, administrators, university leadership and everyone involved in the community of safety.  It really does take a village.

Best,

Robin

All,

As others have indicated I believe that Jim Kaufman may be the source of the statement in one form or another. 

In the Fourth Edition (1995) of the CRC Handbook of Laboratory Safety (page 218), edited by Keith Furr, the statement, "it has been estimated that the accident rate is 10 to 50 times higher (my note: in reference to academic labs) than that in industrial laboratories."  In 2003 I asked Jim Kaufman if he knew the origin of this statistic and he indicated that Keith Furr was probably referring to a statement that he (Kaufman) had made.  Jim stated that he had looked at various sources of information over the years but that the accident rate in academic labs continued to be about 10 - 100 times greater than that of industrial labs.  He stated that the statement is an estimate and that it is not based on a single data set.

Ben Owens

University of Nevada, Reno

From: DCHAS-L Discussion List [mailto:dchas-l**At_Symbol_Here**med.cornell.edu]On Behalf Of Melissa Charlton-Smith
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Subject: [DCHAS-L] Source of the OSHA statement