I teach introductory microbiology at a community college, and we work with live culture as well as open flames. A few years ago, I
had a student who wore a full burqa on the first night of class. In lecture, she heard the beginning of my safety talk (which addresses apparel, specifically no flowing garments or jewelry). When she came to lab, she had a hijab (only the head covering)
and asked if it was acceptable. Everything was fully contained, and her field of vision was unobstructed, so (after consulting our department head), she was permitted. Much of the hijab was contained under her lab coat.
How have others addressed this situation?
Eddie McGrath
Edward J. McGrath
Supervisor of Science
Red Clay Consolidated School District
1502 Spruce Avenue
Wilmington, DE 19805
(302) 552-3768
We did not inherit the Earth from our parents. We borrowed it from our children.
From: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety [mailto:DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**PRINCETON.EDU]
On Behalf Of Wilhelm, Monique
Sent: Wednesday, January 24, 2018 11:03 AM
To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**PRINCETON.EDU
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Attire in Academic Laboratories
One of the complaints I often get from my faculty is that when they "worked for such and such" they didn't have to do x, especially my guy that worked at the
USDA, implying that we have higher requirements than they do. They do not realize that they are now in a different environment with different hazards for some reason. So, yeah, having coffee at the bench may have been acceptable there, but not here in a
lab that has things like phenol, nitric acid, and on and on.
Monique Wilhelm
Laboratory Manager
Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry
University of Michigan - Flint
From: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety [mailto:DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**PRINCETON.EDU]
On Behalf Of Noce, Tony
Sent: Wednesday, January 24, 2018 10:53 AM
To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**PRINCETON.EDU
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Attire in Academic Laboratories
I realize that the prevailing view is that dinosaurs roamed the earth when I attended university, but I distinctly remember my primary laboratory instructor comparing
our labs to the labs at Dow, Dupont, Merck, and Bayer.
Certainly not in scope, scale, or funding, but in form and function.
Our dress code was the same as that for these industrial chem/pharma labs.
"You need to be prepared for what you will face if you work in industry. It is my job to prepare you for that. If you don't like it, I suggest you major in biology."
It seems to me that rather than a dress code for academic laboratories you should be looking for the dress code in industrial labs (handling similar chemicals,
of course) and mimicking that.
Just a thoughtÉ
________________________
Anthony (Tony) Noce, ACSF
Vice President, EH&S Management Systems
Tetra Tech
Mobile (518) 466-5608
Office (518) 788-9026
________________________
From: ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety [mailto:DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**PRINCETON.EDU]
On Behalf Of Heather McCollor
Sent: Wednesday, January 24, 2018 10:30 AM
To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**PRINCETON.EDU
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Attire in Academic Laboratories
I suggest students get a pair of sweat pants, scrubs or cotton pajama pants.
Heather
On Tue, Jan 23, 2018 at 10:50 AM, Barbara Foster <bfoster**At_Symbol_Here**wvu.edu> wrote:
Safety Colleagues,
Do you permit your students to wear leggings/jeggings in your academic chemistry labs?
If not, have you included a section on this in your safety rules?
Would you be willing to share the wording in your safety rules with me?
I chair the departmental safety committee and I plan to include this topic as an agenda item for the February meeting.
As always, thank you for your assistance.
Barbara
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--
Heather McCollor
Laboratory Materials Supervisor
Macalester College
1600 Grand Ave
St Paul, MN 55105
651-696-6484
NAOSMM Site Selection Chair Aug 2015-Aug 2017
--- For more information about the DCHAS-L e-mail list, contact the Divisional secretary at
secretary**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org Follow us on Twitter **At_Symbol_Here**acsdchas
--- For more information about the DCHAS-L e-mail list, contact the Divisional secretary at
secretary**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org Follow us on Twitter **At_Symbol_Here**acsdchas
--- For more information about the DCHAS-L e-mail list, contact the Divisional secretary at
secretary**At_Symbol_Here**dchas.org Follow us on Twitter **At_Symbol_Here**acsdchas
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