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Virtual Fall Symposium

Training & Communication | November 16-17, 2020

Join CSHEMA to discuss innovative EHS training and communication methods. We will consider how to incorporate and encourage effective training and communication methods at our institutions, share best practices, and learn how we can better collaborate with each other, our students, and our researchers.

Practical and Interactive Safety Training
Presented by Joe Udelhofen, Carleton College

Providing safety training can be challenging for all of us, especially for small EHS departments. At Carleton College, we have partnered with our facilities management team to create local ownership for their training. This collaborative effort has developed into training that is both practical and interactive for all participants. Training topics are experienced rather than purely lectured. Attendees will learn about our interactive Amazing Race-themed safety training and experience one of our bloodborne pathogens cleanup activities. Using fake blood made with dish soap, we will demonstrate proper cleanup and disposal techniques. This session will reinforce the importance and necessity of local ownership combined with creativity for required safety training. 


About the presenter

Joe Udelhofen is the Environmental Health and Safety Specialist/Training Coordinator for Carleton College, which is a small liberal arts college in Minnesota.  Joe graduated with a Speech Communication degree from the University of Minnesota, Morris. This will be his 19th year in the EHS field and his 4th year in higher education.  Joe's EHS background includes metal manufacturing, healthcare facilities, county support, and the oil refinery industry.  He has also had the opportunity to serve as a volunteer firefighter and EMT for 10 years in Morris, MN.  For Joe, safety is about protecting people.  He has a practical approach to safety and likes to make safety training as educational and engaging as he can.  Humor allows Joe to have fun and to help make training more enjoyable. Nobody wants to be bored at safety training, including the presenter!

Training Techniques: How You Can Be Un-Boring
Presented by Janette de la Rosa Ducut, University of California–Riverside

Do your faculty, staff, and students think training is boring? Most do, which leads to a lack of learning. To combat this, the University of California implemented cutting-edge training techniques to engage memory and safe decision-making. This includes mobile phones, augmented reality, active learning techniques, simulations, and interactive online training activities. Additionally, safety professionals create a middle management layer which also must be equipped with professional education and certification. Overall, training must be viewed as one part of a larger system. This session will:

  1. Compare and contrast different online training methods
  2. Experience augmented reality (similar to virtual reality)
  3. Practice using an audience response system
  4. Identify the role of training within a larger safety system
     
About the presenter

Janette de la Rosa Ducut as a Doctor of Education degree, and has spent the last 20 years managing regulatory-based education programs in higher education and non-profit institutions. She specializes in online training, video production, and integrating active learning experiences.

Improvisation and Role Play for Training and EHS Specialists
Presented by Breena Stoner, University of California–Los Angeles

In 2018, UCLA research safety implemented a system of no-fault meetings with researchers called Safety Checkups. The meetings supplement and sometimes replace standard laboratory inspections and are generally held during a lab’s group meeting with as many members of the lab as possible. To build core skills for these meetings and ensure consistency across individuals and divisions, accompanying monthly practice sessions were instated. Each practice session begins with an improv activity and involves either role-playing simulations of interactions with labs or activities designed to build specific soft skills. Role-playing activities include lab profiles with research summaries, individual motivations and characteristics for “lab members,” and real concerns and questions from past Safety Checkups. Soft skills sessions have included specific training on building rapport, asking good questions, handling “difficult” groups, and saying “no.” After several skill-building sessions, the next role-playing activity provides an opportunity to practice these skills, and participants provide immediate feedback. Practice sessions have been received positively by EHS staff and grew quickly from biosafety alone to incorporate chemical safety and, most recently, the rest of the research safety team. Implementing this practice has improved interactions with researchers and other campus clients and increased awareness of previously unknown safety issues.
 

About the Presenter

Breena is a chemist-turned-biochemist who left the bench and entered the world of biosafety in 2016. In all stages of her education and career, Breena has nurtured a passion for training and education through tutoring, mentoring, teaching, and training. Breena has continued to focus on training as Assistant Biosafety Officer at UCLA through online, in-person, and — since COVID-19 — virtual delivery both for communicating outward with the campus community and for building skills and coordination among EH&S staff. When she’s not working, Breena can usually be found on the ski slopes, in the kitchen, or curled up with a good book.

How campuses are using mobile technology to in the New Normal
Presented by David Sinkinson

About the Presenter

David Sinkinson is a Co-Founder of AppArmor, the innovators of public safety. Founded in 2011, AppArmor was born out of a committee decision at a university to address their ageing bluelight system. David, being in the right place at the right time, suggested the use of a mobile app as a "mobile bluelight" for students, faculty and staff. Since those humble roots, AppArmor has grown quickly to have 6 product lines and work with over 350 organizations globally. Millions of users trust AppArmor to help keep them safe and informed in a crisis.

A Cup of Coffee in No Man’s Land Between Graduate Researchers and Safety Personnel
Presented by Jessica Martin, University of Connecticut

Communication is key to maintaining safety in research laboratories. Over the last several decades, industry has been taking on the challenge of strengthening relationships between researchers and safety personnel resulting in improved safety records. Dow Chemical and ExxonMobil have been running programs over the last several years to reach out to partner universities to share lessons learned in the strengthening of a positive culture of safety in chemical research laboratories. This has triggered the growth of the modern laboratory safety team movement led by graduate and postdoctoral researchers. A huge emphasis in this movement has been to increase the frequency and value of interactions between graduate and post-doctoral researchers on one side and safety personnel on the other side. Most teams have been delighted to see their university’s EHS and research safety personnel support their efforts as they increase their understanding of the safety hierarchy within their institutions. This support helps them develop ways to contribute to the strengthening of the culture of safety that ultimately impacts these researchers most of all.

In this roundtable, I will be presenting my findings in a recent publication outlining the growth and current state of LSTs throughout the United States and invite attendees to share their own experiences interacting with graduate and post-doctoral researchers at their respective institutions. Sometimes, the solutions to intransigent problems can be found over a cup of coffee in "No Man’s Land."
 

About the presenter

Jessica A. Martin is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Connecticut (UConn).  She holds a BA in political science from the University of California, San Diego, a BA in chemistry from Heritage University, and a certificate in Occupational Health and Safety from UConn.  From 2012-2016, she worked in codling moth genetics at the Yakima Agricultural Research Laboratory of the USDA with Dr. Steve Garczynski, while also building networking opportunities in academia and industry for her fellow students through the Science Club and the Medical Sciences Club at Heritage.  At UConn, she is a founding member of the graduate student-led Joint Safety Team in the Department of Chemistry and the student representative on the Department Safety Committee. She is also an active member of the American Chemical Society (ACS) Division of Chemical Health and Safety and the Connecticut Valley Section of the ACS, an Associate on the ACS Committee on Chemical Safety, a DAAD RISE Pro Alumna, a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer, and an NSF Graduate Research Fellow. She is currently exploring opportunities to continue to pursue her passion for chemical safety and sustainable chemistry upon her graduation at the end of summer in 2021.

Unique Online Courses for Chemical Hygiene Officers
Presented by Lisa Lenertz, University of Wisconsin–Madison

Being a laboratory chemical hygiene officer (CHO) can be a daunting task, and many CHOs are unaware of their specific duties. Staff at the University of Wisconsin–Madison developed an online course titled "My Boss Made Me a Chemical Hygiene Officer, Now What?" to help CHOs prepare for routine chemical safety visits and improve the safety in their workspaces. Topics of the course include the development of a chemical hygiene plan, housekeeping, emergency equipment, hazard communication, chemical storage, specific chemicals (e.g. hydrofluoric acid, sodium azide), compressed gas cylinders and personal protective equipment. The participants can pick and choose the information they want to view and are encouraged to contact us if they would like more topics added. They can stay enrolled as long as they want and refer back to the course whenever they would like. Over 100 laboratory CHOs have enrolled. In addition to the laboratory CHO course, we are developing a highly interactive online course about performing a risk assessment. In this course, participants choose from a list of procedures to complete a risk assessment for. The list includes molecular biology, chemistry and engineering-centric procedures. Learners will be prompted to consider the hazards of their chosen procedure, 'what if?' scenarios, the probability and consequences of the 'what if?' scenarios, and how to mitigate risk. They will answer several multiple-choice, true/false, drag-and-drop, and pick-many questions when working through the tutorial. In addition, participants may submit a risk assessment of their choice as an “assignment” in order to receive feedback.
 

About the Presenter

Lisa Lenertz has been a chemical safety specialist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison for over three years where she conducts lab inspections and develops chemical safety trainings for both researchers and facilities personnel. Lisa has a B.S. in biochemistry and molecular biology from the University of Minnesota Duluth and a Ph.D. in biomedical sciences from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas. She recently earned a certificate in instructional design and is working on an M.S. in career and technical education at the University of Wisconsin-Stout. Prior to working in safety, Lisa conducted research on inflammation and taught undergraduate-level biology, genetics, and biochemistry. She likes to try new educational tools and enjoys creating educational experiences that are relevant and hopefully fun.

Roundtable Discussion
Moderated by Heather Coats, Co-Leader of the Marketing/Communications & Education Community

Join Heather Coats, unit manager of training and outreach at Texas Tech University and co-leader of the CSHEMA Marketing/Communications & Education Community, for a roundtable discussion on marketing/communication in the campus EHS world! Please bring your questions and topics for discussion with the group.
 

About the Presenter

Heather earned a B.S. in Chemistry from Sam Houston State University and a M.S. in Chemistry with an emphasis on Chemical Education from Texas Tech University (TTU). Her professional career began by coordinating a science outreach program out of the College of Education at TTU. Heather joined the EHS department as a Lab Safety Officer in 2017. She now serves as the Training & Outreach Manager for TTU EHS. Heather is also involved in the CSHEMA community serving as a co-leader of the Marketing/Communications & Education Community of Practice and a member of the Professional Development Committee. She is passionate about education and empowering people with the knowledge to perform their jobs as safely as possible.

Web & Document Accessibility for Safety Professional
Presented by Brock Young, University of Nevada-Reno

About the Presenter

Brock is the Environmental Health & Safety Training Manager at the University of Nevada, Reno. In this position, he is responsible for the development and delivery of in-person and online training programs and the broader challenge of facilitating communication between the EH&S department and the rest of campus. This includes management of the department website and associated digital assets, social media accounts, and the creation of print and bulk email materials. A biochemist by training, Brock has sought the skills necessary to improve his department’s ability to market itself and communicate in an ever-changing modern world. Brock is the coleader of the CSHEMA Marketing/Communications & Education Community of Practice.

Training Techniques Virtually - How You Can Be Un-Boring
Presented by Janette de la Rosa Ducut, UC Riverside

About the Presenter

Janette de la Rosa Ducut as a Doctor of Education degree, and has spent the last 20 years managing regulatory-based education programs in higher education and non-profit institutions. She specializes in online training, video production, and integrating active learning experiences.