Safer STEM Learning is a Necessity

It is essential that all science teachers, especially those who use laboratory work in their classes, have an understanding of how to create environments that support safer STEM learning. Safer STEM Learning is a Necessity

Recently, I was asked to facilitate an awareness-building activity involving pre-service teachers with a local university Faculty of Education department for students in the junior/intermediate and intermediate/senior science and STEM disciplines. 

The professors expressly wanted me to ‘emphasize the importance of safety in the laboratory–especially when there are students involved‘ using legal standards and safer professional practices as the lesson’s theme. It had been many years since I was in a formal university science laboratory setting, and it looked remarkably similar to what I remember using over twenty years ago as a student myself. 

I was asked to share safety anecdotes from my experiences and to give these eager students the tools they will need to be safer and more successful educators once they begin entering the workplace as newly hired teachers. I had an obligation to each of these teacher candidates to give them what they needed to know in a 90-minute session about laboratory safety. 

This was not as simple as it might initially appear, and I thought about what could be adequately covered in this compressed timeframe I had with them, which would have the greatest impact on their careers going forward. After much deliberation, I settled on a handful of content areas and connected them to the classroom level and their professional development and learning in safety education and awareness.

You cannot make science and STEM safe. You can only make SAFER STEM Learning. 

That is exactly the phrase I used to start and end my session. I encourage you to read that again and understand the significance of the letter ‘r,’ which is used purposefully. SAFER. 

A blend of controls and safety training can make this teaching and learning safer. This introduction to safety and safer practices opened up a healthy interactive discussion about what we can do as science educators to mitigate risks and identify hazards in the laboratory. 

The reason being is that if you are unaware of the potential hazards, you will not be able to identify these concerns, you will not integrate strategies to mitigate these risks, and you, as the educator in the classroom, could be found negligent as a result of ‘not knowing.’ These are just some of the legal implications of an accident or injury in the laboratory or prep area. 

We transitioned through this introduction into a great conversation about performing a hazard analysis and risk assessment and implementing any safety actions resulting from your findings. I also recall reading a recent article from ITEEA by Dr. Roy and Dr. Love, who illustrated this using real data points collected in their research.

There was plenty of discussion about legal liability, which was addressed by exploring scenarios involving proper planning and risk management strategies that can be used across the K-12 learning and teaching environments. It was a beneficial conversation about safer practices in the laboratory and even in pre-planning environments.

Safer STEM Learning with Minimal Liability

Teachers can often achieve safer laboratory experiences and show documented evidence of meeting their Duty of Care obligations by using the following three-step approach to activity selection and program planning. It is as simple as evaluating the educational benefit versus the potential hazard or risks involved. The question is simple: Does the educational utility (value or benefit to student learning) exceed the hazard or risk involved with performing the activity as a demonstration or having the students actively experiment themselves? 

To answer this question honestly, the educator and the administrator must be aware of the hazards to look for concerning the materials used, the procedures planned, and possible mitigation strategies if the educator feels that the activity is fundamentally important to student success and comprehension or connection to the content being covered or introduced. 

According to Dr. Ken Roy and the NSTA, science, STEM, and CTE educators should perform a hazard analysis and risk assessment before any activity occurs. This is often called the ‘AAA’ approach to hazard analysis and is one of the most important activities you can do as an educator to minimize liability implications that may arise. These are the three steps involved in conducting this procedure:

• Hazard Analysis: A hazard analysis lists potential sources of harm (hazards) to persons, property, or the environment. An effective hazard analysis focuses on the relationship between the worker (student), the tasks, the materials used, and the work environment. Information for the hazard analysis may come from Safety Data Sheets, GHS-compliant chemical labels, manufacturer’s specifications on tools, professional organization practices, and other resources.
  • • Many educators falsely believe that the kits they use or the activity published in their textbook have undergone a proper hazard analysis and accept that this was embedded into the materials selected or provided and the procedures planned. 
      • • As a prudent practice, please review all aspects of the planned activity using a critical lens and ask the question: ‘What would a reasonable adult do in this situation? This will be a good benchmark to use for evaluating whether to do the activity or not. It is that simple. Listen to the voice in your head and consult a colleague for some additional advice or suggestions.
• Risk Assessment: Using the hazard analysis as the starting point, a risk assessment takes the results of the hazard analysis and decides the possible dangers to human health, safety, or the environment.
  • • In other words, based on the hazards identified, prepare a calculation of how much of a danger performing the activity would cause in the classroom.? Factors associated with evaluating a risk assessment include the following main points:

As an educator, ensure that you continually ask, ‘Is this activity necessary for the students to assist them in understanding or connecting concepts, and is there a safer way to convey it? You should not perform the activity if you cannot answer either of these questions confidently. Remember that you can provide the ‘experience’ to the students using alternative methods such as streaming a video or performing an online virtual simulation if the necessity of having that activity provided as a building block for students. 

1. Probability of harm: When considering the hazards, what is the likelihood this hazard may occur?
2. The severity of harm: Will the hazard cause property damage, minor injury, severe injury, or death?

Ultimately you are deciding on the risk of performing the activity as a demo or hands-on lesson leveraged by the educational impact on your students. These are not always the easiest determinations to make. If using a video, ensure you watch it completely first and follow proper safety techniques and procedures. Please indicate this to your students if there are deficiencies.   

3. Safety Actions: Through hazard analysis and risk assessment, it can be determined which safety actions need to be implemented to mitigate the risks as much as possible. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) have created a hierarchy of controls. Based on the hazard analysis and safety actions, activities can be evaluated to determine how the risk associated compares to the instructional value of the activity.

This is the last step in the sequence and allows the educator to potentially substitute hazardous materials or chemicals with less harmful or ‘greener’ alternatives or affords the educator with an opportunity to select another similar activity with fewer safety concerns. An excellent example of this would be the substitution of methanol (methyl alcohol) with the more stable ethanol (ethyl alcohol) to use in activity after assessing the flammability (flame-jetting) concerns, handling, and toxicological properties with methanol. 

The addition of protective measures such as PPE controls such as safety shields, fume hoods, and fire safety equipment, and using minimal amounts of hazardous or potentially hazardous substances can be used as safety actions to mitigate the hazard and risks with the understanding that the chosen activity is central to the curriculum and student success. If the risks exceed the educational utility at any moment, the activity must not proceed as originally planned. 

Remember that you, as the educator, must act responsibly for yourself, your colleagues, and your students in the laboratory at all times under your Duty of Care obligations.

Safer STEM Learning and Better Professional Practices

The professors wanted to ensure that these pre-service teachers were exposed to some legal aspects of teaching, including educator liability, which I provided using legal safety standards, better professional practices, regulations, and statutes to illustrate this concept for the class. Using reputable, trusted sources, we explored the existing frameworks in this regard. To provide and maintain a learning and working environment for students and staff that is as safe as possible, the NSTA recommends school district officials, including administrators, principals, assistant principals, science supervisors, and superintendents, review these recommendations and incorporate these suggestions in their growing level of safety awareness for CTE, science and STEM programs:

• Review existing school or employer insurance policies to ensure adequate liability insurance coverage for laboratory-based science, STEM, and CTE instruction.
• Develop and implement comprehensive safety policies with clear procedures for engaging in lab activities; ensure that these policies comply with all applicable local, state, and federal health and safety codes, regulations, ordinances, and other rules established by the applicable oversight organization, including the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA), International Code Council (ICC), and National Fire Protection Association (NFPA); and be reviewed and updated annually in consultation with school or district science educators.
• Ensure better professional safety practices by following the safety recommendations of established organizations, such as NSTA and its affiliates, the National Science Education Leadership Association, and the American Chemical Society.
• Become knowledgeable of and enforce all local, state, and federal codes and regulations to ensure a learning environment for students and staff that is as safe as possible (Particular attention should be given to hazard prevention, including reasonable class sizes to prevent overcrowding in violation of occupancy load codes (ICC 2015, NFPA 2015) or contrary to safety research (West and Kennedy 2014); adequate number or size of labs (Motz, Biehle, and West 2007). Attention should also be given to the replacement or repair of inadequate or defective equipment and the proper use, storage, disposal, or recycling of biological, chemical, and physical materials.).
• Understand that the number of occupants allowed in the laboratory must be set at a level based on building and fire safety codes; the size and design of the laboratory teaching facility; biological, chemical, or physical hazards; and students’ needs (NSTA 2015a; Roy 2006).

*Note: Science classes should have no more than 24 students to allow for adequate supervision during science activities, even if the occupancy load limit might accommodate more (NSTA 2014b). It is equally important to ensure adequate workspace for each student. NSTA recommends 60 sq. ft. for each secondary student and 45 sq. ft. for each elementary student in a laboratory/classroom setting (Motz, Biehle, and West 2007).

Considerations for Conducting a Hazard Analysis and Risk Assessment

As this conversation with the pre-service teachers evolved, we made some notes on the whiteboards, and the whole class was feverishly taking notes about this important and central topic. I have attempted to provide some key points to better assist you in conducting these analyses and assessments in your program. 

To complete the initial, secondary, and tertiary assessments of these planned laboratory activities, educators need to know what to look for so that these risks and potentially dangerous situations can be evaluated from an informed perspective. The university pre-service teachers had an abundance of questions that seemed to start with ‘what,’ ‘why,’ ‘where,’ ‘when,’ and of course ‘how’ and the derivatives attached to each one to build a mental framework or decision tree to help them be safer in their new jobs. 

Intentional Safer STEM Learning

The resulting 6 intentional safety actions for conducting these safety reviews were used for our conversation and had broad applicability to your departments and should be shared with members of these disciplines. These 6 safety actions will best serve educators in making informed decisions regarding activity selection: 

1. Review the SDS for all chemicals potentially being used and identify any areas of possible risk, including health, handling, storage, flammability, toxicology, and other pertinent information found in the 16 sections of the GHS-approved safety data sheet. There are many lists of ‘banned’ or prohibited chemicals found by professional organizations which identify those products that should not be used or found in academic laboratories due to their inherent risk to health and safety.  
2. Review the equipment, apparatus, tools, machinery, and other items potentially being used in the activity or demonstration and analyze the possible injuries resulting from improper use or damage. Glassware can chip or break, causing a laceration; hotplates and burners can cause burns or start a fire; corded items can be trip hazards; machinery such as lathes or saws can create projectiles from the material being cut or shaped; and many other safety concerns exist within the parameters of the program and your specific items and equipment used. Be aware.
3. Review the procedures in the activity and identify any areas of concern, including timing, materials used, sequencing, handling, molarity, or concentration of chemicals proposed, and other relevant aspects, including waste management and emergency procedures in case of a fire, chemical spill, injury, and other risks associated with the activity. The Chemical Hygiene Plan will likely have some standard operating procedures and guidance on activities performed as well as asking your local Chemical Hygiene Officer or Supervisor for some advice on the activity proposal.
4. If you have not performed this activity before, have a colleague work with you to ‘test-drive’ the activity before doing it with students to identify any unexpected results or risks associated with the investigation. It also allows for mentoring from a more experienced educator who may have additional insights into achieving the desired educational outcomes. Never perform any activity with students until you have completed it first. You need to know what to anticipate and expect as the educator so you can better prepare your students for performing that activity from a safety perspective.
5. Accept that substitutions of hazardous items or chemicals may be required for the demonstration or student activity to proceed. For example, many precipitate lab activities that were performed for decades used lead compounds now known to be carcinogenic. Despite the historical inertia to provide a ‘yellow’ residue, you can use different compounds that will still produce a precipitate. Still, it might be pink, teal, or blue instead of yellow. Do not try to replicate your personal experiences with identified banned or hazardous chemicals or apparatus.
6. Ask important questions and make immediate course corrections if the risk or hazards exceed the educational value for the students. Is this safe? Is there a safer way to impart this reaction/action/theory/specific law to my students – perhaps with a virtual simulation or existing video? IF THE ANSWER IS ‘NO,’ THEN YOU DO NOT PROCEED.

Best Safer STEM Learning Advice for Teachers

As the minutes were winding down in my plenary session with these teacher candidates, it was apparent that I was expected to provide them with some ‘wisdom’ to help them calibrate their personal career and safety compass as they entered the teaching profession. What could I conjure up for them that would resonate with these eager, anxious, and knowledge-hungry students? Well, I provided these students in the auditorium with two concluding thoughts summarizing what hazard analysis and risk assessments in these subject areas involve from a cyclical or recurring perspective. 

My first advice was, “There is NOT a fine line between safe and unsafe. It is either safer, or it is NOT“. Let that sink in for a minute. If you hear that voice is saying, “Is this safe?” Then it 100% is NOT safe, you should STOP immediately. 

And my lasting impression with these students was this: “Remember one thing as an educator in Science, STEM, and CTE, and that you recite this every morning when you unlock the door to your laboratory. SAFETY FIRST. ACCIDENTS LAST.” 

You cannot make teaching science, STEM, or CTE safe, but you can make it SAFER by conducting a hazard analysis and risk assessment and then the resulting safety actions determined from your evaluation. That is your safety benchmark or gauge for making prudent choices with activity, investigation, or experimental selection for students and stimulating their minds in these innovative subject areas. 

Your role as the educator is to make responsible, safer choices rooted in science and evidence from the safety analysis while simultaneously inspiring today’s youth to be the entrepreneurs of tomorrow with a solid foundation of ‘informed’ or intentional safety. 

Your impact may not be immediately visible but will ultimately assist your students along their trajectory towards post-secondary and ultimately into the workplace as valuable, contributing members of our community for decades to come. 

References:

• NSTA Legal Implications of Duty of Care    
• NSTA Liability Science Educator/Lab Safety
• NSTA Safety and School Science Instruction
• STEM LEGAL LIABILITY IN SCHOOLS – IMPROVED SAFETY
• THE IMPORTANCE OF CHEMICAL HYGIENE PLANS IN SCHOOL DISTRICTS
• Learning Conditions in High School Science
• Better Science Safety What the Data Tells Us
• Better Science Teaching Conditions