Inclusive Classrooms with Universal Design: Safer Ed Podcast

This companion article, published by edCircuit in September 2025 for the second of two Safer Ed Podcast episodes, explains universal design and hazard analysis for inclusive science and STEM labs. A new section below adds the current Universal Design for Learning Guidelines, published lab-adjustment guidance and a set of decisions for school leaders.

Safer EdInclusive Classrooms with Universal DesignSeptember 22, 2025 · 4 min 55 sPlay episode: Inclusive Classrooms with Universal Design (4 minutes 55 seconds)0:00-4:55Follow on SpotifyApple

In our last episode, Inclusive Safety in STEM Classrooms (Part 1), the Safer Ed podcast examined how accommodations and modifications support students with additional needs in science and STEM. In Part 2, the conversation moves from individual adjustments to a proactive framework: universal design and hazard analysis.

The message is clear, when classrooms and labs are designed from the ground up to anticipate diversity, safety becomes stronger, inclusion becomes natural, and learning becomes richer for everyone.

What Universal Design Really Means

Universal design is more than a buzzphrase; it’s a mindset. Rather than waiting to retrofit solutions when a student arrives with a specific need, teachers and schools build accessibility into the classroom from the start.

Consider a few examples:

• Adjustable lab stations that can be raised or lowered to support wheelchair users—or any student who needs a different posture to work safely.

• Instructions offered in multiple formats—written, verbal, and visual—to support students with processing differences while reinforcing learning for the entire class.

• Flexible seating and layouts that anticipate a range of physical and sensory needs.

By embedding these elements from the beginning, schools reduce risk and build confidence, for both students and educators.

Hazard Analysis with Students in Mind

STEM labs inherently involve hazards—chemicals, heat sources, sharp instruments, and even distractions in the learning environment. Traditional hazard analysis looks at equipment and materials. But in an inclusive classroom, it must go further:

• Who is in the room?

• What are their comfort levels and physical abilities?

• What supports are needed to ensure full participation and safety?

For one student, this might mean larger-scale tools if fine motor skills are a challenge. For another, it might mean additional supervision or an alternative workstation setup.

Hazard analysis becomes a process of not only evaluating risks but also ensuring that supports are in place to make the activity safe and meaningful for every learner.

Relationships and Trust

The podcast emphasizes that there’s no such thing as a “one-size-fits-all” safety plan. Teachers must know their students—their strengths, vulnerabilities, and ways of learning. Strong relationships are the foundation of effective safety planning.

Trust also extends beyond the classroom. Teachers, families, and administrators must work together toward the same goal: offering high-quality STEM learning opportunities while protecting student well-being.

The Role of Administrators

Universal design and individualized hazard analysis take resources—time, training, and often additional staffing. Teachers cannot do this alone. School leaders must commit to funding specialized equipment, providing professional development, and supporting teachers with the staffing and planning time they need.

When administrators invest in safety and inclusion, they create schools where teachers can focus on instruction instead of scrambling for last-minute fixes.

Inclusion as a Safety Practice

The heart of this episode is the idea that inclusion is not an “extra.” It is itself a safety practice. By designing classrooms and labs that anticipate diversity, schools reduce risks, empower students, and strengthen STEM learning for all.

Key Takeaways

• Universal design is proactive, not reactive.

• Hazard analysis must include both lab risks and student needs.

• Safety planning is individualized—built on relationships and trust.

• Administrative support is critical for resources, staffing, and training.

• Inclusion is not separate from safety—it is safety.

Listen Now

Listen to Inclusive Classrooms with Universal Design (Part 2) on the Safer Ed podcast at edcircuit.com or on your favorite podcast platform.

• Apple Music
• Amazon Music
• iHeartRadio
• Spotify 

Universal design for science labs: what it covers and how to start

Universal design for science labs means building access into the room and the lesson before a particular student needs it. The episode companion above describes the idea as proactive instead of reactive, and it pairs it with a hazard analysis that asks who is in the room as well as which materials are in use. This section clarifies what the term covers, shows where published guidance supports the episode’s examples, and lists decisions that belong to administrators.

Two meanings that are often combined

People use the phrase in two related ways. One refers to the physical room, such as adjustable stations and clear aisles. The other refers to instruction, which is the subject of Universal Design for Learning (UDL), an education framework developed by the Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST). CAST released version 3.0 of its UDL Guidelines in July 2024. The Guidelines are arranged under three headings, “Design Multiple Means of” engagement, representation, and action and expression, and CAST describes them as supported by evidence as benefiting learners of all ages. The Guidelines are a learning framework, and the CAST page does not present them as lab safety guidance.

The episode’s second example above, instructions in written, verbal and visual form, maps onto the representation heading. The first, adjustable stations, concerns the room. A science department benefits from treating the two together because a student who can see, reach and understand a step is a student who can perform it safely.

What teachers have already tried

A January 2020 Science Scope column by Kaitlyn McGlynn and Janey Kelly, “Modifying Labs for Students with Special Needs,” offers measures that fit the universal design approach: wide aisles, tables cleared of nonessential items, plastic in place of glass, nonslip mats, adjustable-height work areas, procedures in more than one format, and defined roles within lab groups. The authors write as classroom practitioners, and the column describes what worked for them, not the results of a controlled study.

Adding students to the hazard analysis

The episode asks teachers to extend hazard analysis from equipment to people. A standard chemistry-lab resource shows the starting point. The School Chemistry Laboratory Safety Guide, published in 2006 by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, tells teachers to weigh risk factors against educational value before each activity and to know the location and use of all safety equipment. It recommends hands-free eyewash stations that meet ANSI Z358.1 and a laboratory hood. A keyword search of the guide’s extracted text (wheelchair, disability, handicap, special needs) found no mention of wheelchairs or students with disabilities, so whether a seated student can reach the eyewash, shower and shutoffs is a question a school answers by walking the room, not by consulting the guide.

A practical hazard analysis for an inclusive lab can use three columns: the step, the hazard in the step, and the support that makes the step safe for each student who needs one. A short table filled in before the unit starts is easier to adjust than a conversation held during the lab.

Decisions that belong to administrators

The episode is clear that teachers cannot carry this alone. Four decisions fall to school leaders:

1. Budget for adjustable-height furniture and other equipment, starting with the rooms where the need is known.
2. Scheduling staff for lab days when an individual plan calls for added supervision.
3. Training time that includes special educators and science teachers together.
4. Room and class-size limits that leave space for the adjustments to work.

Each of these has a cost, and the sources read for this section do not put numbers on them. A leader can start with a walk-through of one lab with a special educator, and a list of what would have to change for a student who uses a wheelchair, a student with low vision and a student who is easily overloaded by noise to complete the same lab.

Where to read next

The first episode, summarized in Inclusive Safety in STEM Classrooms, explains IEP accommodations and modifications. The edCircuit special education guide, STEM education guide and lab safety guide place these ideas in the larger picture.

Subscribe to edCircuit to stay up to date on all of our shows, podcasts, news, and thought leadership articles.

More on Science and Lab Safety