Virginia Commonwealth University is committed to fostering, promoting, and supporting a positive laboratory safety culture. The Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities (APLU) released guidance for universities to foster, achieve and support positive safety culture. The APLU Laboratory Safety Taskforce developed 5 core values for establishing a culture of safety.

Values for a Culture of Safety

Accountability

Safety is everyone’s responsibility. Each institution should commit to providing a campus environment that supports the health and safety practices of its community (faculty, students, staff, and visitors) and empowers the community to be responsible for the safety of others. A safe campus environment is a right of employment for all categories of employees.
A safe campus learning environment is a right of all involved in education and research.

Integrating Safety with Science

Good science is safe science. Safety is a critical component of scholarly excellence and responsible conduct of research.

Access to Safety Training

Safety training and safety education are essential elements of research and education. They instill a culture of safety in the next generation of researchers and future faculty, and they are important for our students’ career development and employability.

Risk Reduction

An improved culture of safety is necessary to truly reduce risk throughout the academic enterprise.

Flexibility

It is best to recognize that diverse methods and flexible approaches will be used by each institution to develop a strong culture of safety, unique to its situation.