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How do you possibly try to understand all of the different chemical scientific research? And what about the safety and risk aspects? Learn from CHOs who figure it out every day.

This webinar aired on Thursday, September 9, 2021

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Meet the Panelists:

Ashley Augspurger, Ph.D., CHO

EHS SpecialistCorteva Agriscienceashley.augspurger@corteva.com

Dr. Ashley Augspurger has a chemistry degree from Grand View University and a PhD in Analytical Chemistry and Chemical Education Research from Iowa State University. She was the embedded safety professional for Chemical Engineering at Iowa State University 2015-2018 and has been at Corteva since 2018. Ashley holds the vice-chair position for the AIHA's Biosafety and Environmental Microbiology Committee and chair of the Communications and Training Methods Committee.

Chris Kolodziej, Ph.D.

Chemical Hygiene OfficerUniversity of California, Los Angelesckolodziej@ehs.ucla.eduLInkedIn

Chris received his Ph.D. in Chemistry from UCLA in 2011. After a short stint in the private sector, he returned to UCLA and joined the Office of Environment, Health & Safety in 2015. Chris currently serves as the campus Chemical Hygiene Officer where he uses his experiences to help promote safety while reducing compliance burden for UCLA researchers through application of risk assessment and integrated safety management.

Jodi Ogilvie, Ph.D., ASP, CHO

Interim Lab and Research Safety ManagerUniversity of Minnesotajogilvie@umn.eduLinkedIn@DrO_MN

Jodi Ogilvie has more than 10 years of experience working in synthetic chemistry laboratories. At UMN, she provides guidance on the safe use, storage, and disposal of chemicals used in research and teaching.

Jonathan Klane

MC; Director of Risk Management and Safety EducationSciShieldjonathan.klane@scishield.com

After many years in consulting, teaching, and directing safety and risk for two engineering colleges, Jonathan is now part of the SciShield team in a new role – Director of Risk management and Safety Education. This new innovative position encompasses risk management, safety culture, EHS compliance, loss control, and safety education for the entire community.

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EHS Webinars

Chemical Safety for Non-Chemical Hygiene Officers

How do you possibly try to understand all of the different chemical scientific research? And what about the safety and risk aspects? Learn from CHOs who figure it out every day.

eLabNext Team
Kris Richards
|
2 min read

Defusing and guiding a conflict to a resolution is an invaluable skill. Join us to learn some real-world advice for navigating these tense situations.

This webinar aired on June 17, 2021

Meet the Panelists:

Pamela Brooks-Richards

CEO/PresidentCornerstone Consulting Int.CCSuccess.pam@gmail.comLinkedInhttps://www.viatechglobal.com/associates/

Pam is known for her passion for people and facilitating positive change for anyone in need with an open mind. She enjoys being an executive coach and helping people discover their strengths to make life transformations. Pam has helped design and run several leadership programs at ASU and continues to help organizations with executive staffing and teambuilding. Pam is also a Certified Facilitator for Brené Brown's Dare to Lead™ program.

Jonathan Klane

Director of Risk Management and Safety EducationSciShieldjonathan.klane@bioraft.com

After years of emphasizing EHS technical skills, Jonathan's focus has shifted much more to effectiveness and our softer skills like conflict management – a course he taught in an MBA program and as a workshop for EHS professionals. Additionally, in his PhD program he studies persuasion theory and techniques as they apply to affecting our risk perceptions and the use of storytelling among scientists, researchers, and EHS professionals.

Matt Segal

MCSciShieldmatt.segal@bioraft.com

Matt found his way to SciShield after working at Boston Children's Hospital performing translational rare blood disease research. As the safety guy in his lab, he saw firsthand how challenging it was to manage safety in a laboratory environment and wanted to find a way to help. He now spends his time hosting webinars, arguing with his 3D printer, and cooking food in plastic bags at low temperatures.

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EHS Webinars

Conflict Resolution Techniques

Defusing and guiding a conflict to a resolution is an invaluable skill. Join us to learn some real-world advice for navigating these tense situations.

eLabNext Team
Matt Segal
|
2 min read

Human beings are complex creatures. Understand what makes them tick, and you'll understand how to foster safer scientific operations.

This webinar aired on August 12, 2021

Meet the Panelists:

Sean Kaufman

Chief Executive Officer and Founding PartnerSafer BehaviorsLinkedInhttps://www.saferbehaviors.com/

I have several years of experience in the fields of organizational development, behavioral management and modification, crisis and risk communication and emergency preparedness in public health and business organizations. I have served on the Board of Commissioners at the National center for Health Education Credentialing (NCHEC), was a trustee for the Professional Development for the Society of Public Health Education (SOPHE), and Past-President of the Georgia Federation for Professional Health Educators (GFPHE).

Sharon Lipinski

CEOHabit Mastery Consultinghttps://habitmasteryconsulting.com/

Sharon Lipinski is the Habit SuperHero and CEO of Habit Mastery Consulting, which helps organizations increase their targeted safety behavior by up to 150%. She is a Certified Gamification for Teaching developer, certified CBT for insomnia instructor, speaker, TV personality and coach dedicated to helping people create the right habits so they can be happier, healthier and safer at home and in their work.

Jonathan Klane

MC; Director of Risk Management and Safety EducationSciShieldjonathan.klane@bioraft.com

After years of emphasizing EHS technical skills, Jonathan's focus has shifted much more to effectiveness and our softer skills like conflict management – a course he taught in an MBA program and as a workshop for EHS professionals. Additionally, in his PhD program he studies persuasion theory and techniques as they apply to affecting our risk perceptions and the use of storytelling among scientists, researchers, and EHS professionals.

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EHS Webinars

Applying Behavioral Science to Scientific H&S

Human beings are complex creatures. Understand what makes them tick, and you'll understand how to foster safer scientific operations.

eLabNext Team
Matt Segal
|
2 min read

Feeling exhausted from everything required by chemical inventory and fire codes? Pick up some tips from our expert panelists.

This webinar aired on July 15, 2021

Meet the Panelists:

John DeLaHunt, MBA, ARM

Risk Manager and Fire MarshalThe University of Texas at San Antoniojohn.delahunt@utsa.edu

John DeLaHunt has managed EHS and risk in higher education since 1989. At Colorado College, he launched a comprehensive EHS program. At The University of Texas at San Antonio, he serves as the university's Fire Marshal and Risk Manager. Mr. DeLaHunt holds a Bachelor's degree in chemistry from Colorado College, and an MBA in finance and management from University of Colorado - Colorado Springs.

Lenny Farello

Global Manager – Fire Protection and Engineering RisksIntel Corporationleonard.farello@intel.com

Lenny Farello has over 29 years of FPE experience as a DOE Contractor (WSRC); Intel Site FPE (Rio Rancho, MN); FP Program Manager (DOE-NNSA Complex); and Intel Global Manager Fire Protection and Risk Engineering (FP&RE). At Intel, Lenny manages the following Corporate FP programs: Standards/Guides; Programs; Budget; Metrics; ITM; Fire-related Incidents; Risk Engineering Decisions; Interface with Corporate Risk Management (Property Insurance Program); Compliance; Fire Specifications; Loss Prevention Property Insurer; Corporate Fire Safety Program Team; other.

Jeffrey Foisel

R&D Lab Process Safety Technology LeaderThe Dow Chemical CompanyLinkedIn

Jeff Foisel has worked for Dow Chemical for 32 years, of which the last 27 have been in lab safety where he has worked on design and operations of labs around the world. He also promotes lab safety through his involvement with the NFPA 45 Technical Committee and Standards Council, and UC Center for Lab Safety.

Jonathan Klane

MC; Director of Risk Management and Safety EducationSciShieldjonathan.klane@bioraft.com

After many years in consulting, teaching, and directing safety and risk for two engineering colleges, Jonathan is now part of the SciShield team in a new role – Director of Risk management and Safety Education. This new innovative position encompasses risk management, safety culture, EHS compliance, loss control, and safety education for the entire community.

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EHS Webinars

Chemical Inventory, Fire Codes, & You

Feeling exhausted from everything required by chemical inventory and fire codes? Pick up some tips from our expert panelists.

eLabNext Team
Matt Segal
|
2 min read

Making the right decisions for your haz waste program can lead to serious savings. We'll share some new ideas to help move the needle.

This webinar aired on July 1, 2021

Meet the Panelists:

Jason Williams

Chemical Hygiene OfficerAmherst Collegejwilliams@amherst.edu

I've had the unique experience of working with Hazardous Waste from 3 different dimensions: as a Labpack Chemist, as a University Lab Manager, and as a Chemical Hygiene Officer. I try to pool all my knowledge from these 3 areas to ensure that lab personnel are generating as little waste as possible, at the lowest cost possible, while adhering to RCRA and DOT regulations. I started working in this field as a freshman in college and it's been my passion ever since.

Mike Williams

Director of SalesTriumvirate EnvironmentalLinkedInmwilliams@triumvirate.com

Mike Williams is the Director of Sales at Triumvirate Environmental with 22 years of helping EHS Professionals who are struggling to keep up with EH&S compliance. Mike specializes in waste diversion, sustainability and audits. He is a strong believer of mentoring, coaching and teaching. Mike is passionate about building people who can build people, he can also be found coaching sports in his free time.

Matt Segal

MCSciShieldmatt.segal@bioraft.com

Matt found his way to SciShield after working at Boston Children's Hospital performing translational rare blood disease research. As the safety guy in his lab, he saw firsthand how challenging it was to manage safety in a laboratory environment and wanted to find a way to help. He now spends his time hosting webinars, arguing with his 3D printer, and cooking food in plastic bags at low temperatures.

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EHS Webinars

Reducing Hazardous Waste Costs

Making the right decisions for your haz waste program can lead to serious savings. We'll share some new ideas to help move the needle.

eLabNext Team
Matt Segal
|
2 min read

Whether it's technical action items or human emotions, there are a number of tough situations to navigate when shutting down a lab group.

This webinar aired on July 29, 2021

Meet the Panelists:

Lori Evans, MS

Senior Safety Specialist/Laser Safety OfficerUniversity of Texas at Dallaslori.evans@utdallas.eduLab Closeout Process Map [PDF]Lab Closeout Checklist [PDF]Notice of Decontamination Form [PDF]

After many years in academic research and a brief stint in industry, Lori landed at the University of Texas at Dallas where she is a Senior Safety Specialist with the Office of Research. In her spare time, she volunteers mentoring students at the University's Community Garden and working for the Comet Cupboard. On the weekends, when not growing fresh veggies, she can be found chasing chickens.

Sean Fitzgerald

Manager of Biological Safety and Environmental Health and SafetyHackensack Meridian HealthLinkedIn

Sean is responsible for safety at the Hackensack Meridian Health School of Medicine and Center for Discovery and Innovation. He also serves as Chairman of the Institutional Biosafety Committee. Mr. Fitzgerald has spent many years managing high-risk materials at numerous institutions. Mr. Fitzgerald holds a Masters of Public Health the University of Massachusetts-Amherst.

Jonathan Klane

MC; Director of Risk Management and Safety EducationSciShieldjonathan.klane@bioraft.com

After many years in consulting, teaching, and directing safety and risk for two engineering colleges, Jonathan is now part of the SciShield team in a new role – Director of Risk management and Safety Education. This new innovative position encompasses risk management, safety culture, EHS compliance, loss control, and safety education for the entire community.

Matt Segal

MCSciShieldmatt.segal@bioraft.comLinkedIn

Matt found his way to SciShield after working at Boston Children's Hospital performing translational rare blood disease research. As the safety guy in his lab, he saw firsthand how challenging it was to manage safety in a laboratory environment and wanted to find a way to help. He now spends his time hosting webinars, arguing with his 3D printer, and cooking food in plastic bags at low temperatures.

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EHS Webinars

How to Gracefully Shut Down a Lab Group

Whether it's technical action items or human emotions, there are a number of tough situations to navigate when shutting down a lab group.

eLabNext Team
Matt Segal
|
2 min read

Questions about peroxide former tracking and disposal require high quality answers. We’ll review salient points and real-world solutions. This webinar aired on Eastern. May 6, 2021

Meet the Panelists:

Jeffrey J Harris

Chemical Safety & Hazardous Materials ManagerCarnegie Mellon Universityjjharris@andrew.cmu.eduwww.cmu.edu/ehs

Graduated from Indiana University of Pennsylvania Safety Sciences. Worked 5 years as Risk Control Manager, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. Worked 3 years as Campus Safety Manager, University of Arkansas. Have worked 20 years as EH&S Lab and Research Safety Manager, Carnegie Mellon University. Instructor Chemistry Sophomore Seminar, Carnegie Mellon University, a course designed to teach Environmental Health & Safety Programs to future chemists. Hobbies include fishing and tennis.

Tammy Lutz-Rechtin

Safety CoordinatorUniversity of Arkansastlutzrec@uark.eduLinkedIn

Dr. Lutz-Rechtin is an experienced safety coordinator working in the higher education industry for the last ten years in chemical engineering at the University of Arkansas. With over twenty years of chemical and biological research experience, she has firsthand knowledge of the creation of peroxide former waste streams to waste management procedures. Her role in engineering allows her to tackle safety issues at the design level with the intention of later safe scale-up with industry partners.

Corey Martin

Founder and CEOSpotlight Safety Inc.cmartin@spotlightsafetyinc.comwww.spotlightsafetyinc.comLinkedIn

Corey Martin is an EHS and workplace safety consultant who specializes in supporting companies in the life science, biotech, pharmaceutical, tech R&D, and craft brewing industries. As a former scientist, Corey combines a unique blend of scientific and regulatory knowledge to offer customized safety solutions for early- and mid-stage companies. Corey highlights the importance of proactive safety investment to build a strong safety culture at all levels of the organization.

Matt Segal

MCSciShieldmatt.segal@bioraft.com

Matt found his way to SciShield after working at Boston Children's Hospital performing translational rare blood disease research. As the safety guy in his lab, he saw firsthand how challenging it was to manage safety in a laboratory environment and wanted to find a way to help. He now spends his time hosting webinars, arguing with his 3D printer, and cooking food in plastic bags at low temperatures.

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EHS Webinars

Peroxide Formers – Tracking & Disposal

Questions about peroxide former tracking and disposal require high quality answers. Watch as we review salient points and real-world solutions.

eLabNext Team
Matt Segal
|
2 min read

Science & Safety can take your career to some fascinating places. Where do you want your path to take you?

This webinar aired on June 3, 2021

Meet the Panelists:

Joe Coffey, CSP

Risk Control Technical SpecialistIntact Insurance Specialty SolutionsLinkedInSee how Risk Control can save you money [PDF]

After graduating with a Bachelor's in biology from UC San Diego, and working as a student researcher at Lawrence Livermore National Lab, I was working in quality at Baxter BioScience – and I loved my job. But when I took the leap to safety, and insurance, I learned this is the best job in the world. When I'm not helping clients stay safe, I am enjoying the outdoors with family.

Sarah Morris-Benavides

Associate Director of SafetyCollege of Science and EHS, University of UtahLinkedIn

Sarah has spent her career building a broad knowledge base of regulatory requirements and program areas across the EHS spectrum. Sarah now uses that base to serve as a liaison between the College and EHS. She works with research groups, academic staff, and unit leaders to identify and mitigate hazards within the College, helps EHS implement initiatives and ensure compliance, and chairs committees charged with promoting a culture of safety at the college and university level.

AJ Troiano

Chief Scientific OfficerSafer BehaviorsAJ.Troiano@saferbehaviors.com LinkedInSign up for our Professional Development Email List

AJ uses his diverse knowledge of infectious agents and connects risk factors by empathizing with scientists, from his own laboratory experience as a bacterial spore microbiologist. His core belief in building safety culture is through education and risk awareness. Over his 10 years of working in life science laboratories, Dr. Troiano has served various institutions as Biosafety Officer, CDC Federal Select Agent Program Responsible Official, Scientific Consultant, and Biomedical Scientist.

Matt Segal

MCSciShieldmatt.segal@bioraft.comLinkedIn

Matt found his way to SciShield after working at Boston Children's Hospital performing translational rare blood disease research. As the safety guy in his lab, he saw firsthand how challenging it was to manage safety in a laboratory environment and wanted to find a way to help. He now spends his time hosting webinars, arguing with his 3D printer, and cooking food in plastic bags at low temperatures.

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EHS Webinars

Scientific H&S Career Growth Possibilities

Science & Safety can take your career to some fascinating places. Where do you want your path to take you?

eLabNext Team
Matt Segal
|
2 min read

Soon, you’ll face challenges (both old and new) for maintaining safety and smooth operations. The time to start seriously preparing is now.

This webinar aired on May 20, 2021

Meet the Panelists:

Thomas Horvath

Associate Dean, College of ScienceCalifornia State University, Monterey BayCSUMB ProfileLinkedIn

A research background in assessing risk of invasive species, aquatic pollution, and environmental monitoring. Served as the UUP Health & Safety Officer at SUNY Oneonta focused on asbestos abatement, indoor air quality. At University of Koblenz-Landau, Laundau Germany, Faculty contact for planning and construction of a new science research facility, and liaison with Facilities operations. Current responsibilities include point person for lab safety, COVID responses, managing the Return to Research process.

Jonah Lee, BS, MS, PhD

Associate Director of Strategic Planning, Animal Care and Use Office, University of Michigan Office of ResearchUniversity of Michigan, Ann Arborjonahlee@umich.eduOffice of ResearchAnimal Care & Use Program

As the Associate Director for theAnimal Care & Use Office(ACUO), Dr. Lee brings experience and a proven track record in the biomedical sciences and academic research administration to provide thought leadership, program oversight, and process optimization with specific attention to researcher/user-experience coordination across the Animal Care & Use Program.In collaboration with other U-M research administrative departments and academic department leadership, Dr. Lee is charged with the strategic development of research engagement infrastructure and resource support.

Matt Segal

MCSciShieldmatt.segal@bioraft.com

Matt found his way to SciShield after working at Boston Children's Hospital performing translational rare blood disease research. As the safety guy in his lab, he saw firsthand how challenging it was to manage safety in a laboratory environment and wanted to find a way to help. He now spends his time hosting webinars, arguing with his 3D printer, and cooking food in plastic bags at low temperatures.

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EHS Webinars

Reopening Full Scientific Operations

Soon, you’ll face challenges (both old and new) for maintaining safety and smooth operations. The time to start seriously preparing is now.

eLabNext Team
Matt Segal
|
2 min read

[Available only in the USA]

eLabNext lab automation products now work seamlessly with the Elemental Machines system of networked, turnkey sensors. The powerful collaboration will make lab experiments more precise and repeatable, ensure that biological samples are preserved, and guarantee that the quality and viability of biological reagents and therapeutics are maintained.

Automatic Temperature Collection

eLabInventory tracks and manages a complete inventory of life science laboratory samples, reagents, and the storage of temperature-critical therapeutics such as vaccines, establishing a complete audit trail for each. By applying wireless Element T temperature sensors from Elemental Machines to each freezer, refrigerator, and lab environment itself, researchers can automatically maintain a complete temperature history without effort.

Most importantly, the eLabInventory database ties every sample to the storage devices they inhabit. Whether your samples require room temperature storage, standard refrigeration, or freezing at low, ultralow, or cryogenic temperatures, Element T sensors will instantly alert you to off-specification conditions via Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, or cellular network connection. Each minute, temperature readings are transmitted to eLabInventory for comprehensive, fully traceable records, including the duration and magnitude of any temperature deviation. Significant and minor disruptions are recorded at both the device and sample levels.

Enhanced Experimental Repeatability

Controlling and recording every detail of a life science experiment improves repeatability, diagnosis, and correction of deviations in methods and conditions. Elemental Machine's wireless Element T and Element M sensors provide temperature and other environmental information that may be pertinent to experiments but not otherwise monitored, such as humidity, light, and pressure. eLabJournal stores that data in the electronic lab notebook and can also directly acquire experimental data from various laboratory instruments. The Elemental Machines Element D interface device extends that capability even further.

A Free Add-On is Available Today

Automatic temperature collection and improved experimental repeatability are within reach. The eLabNext Add-on for Elemental Machines is now available free of charge in the eLabNext Marketplace.

 

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News

eLabNext Announces Compatibility with Elemental Machines

eLabNext lab automation products now work seamlessly with the Elemental Machines system of networked, turnkey sensors.

eLabNext Team
|
2 min read

The Center for Discovery and Innovation at Hackensack Meridian Health or HMH is part of a bio-hub and does a great amount of work in research – from bench (and BSC) to bedside – we cover it all. We are a research island in a sea of healthcare. We have over tens of thousands of employees spread across 500 facilities with just a handful of full-time safety professionals to cover it all. My office is a 2-person group. We have not just OSHA, but as part of a healthcare organization, we’re also regulated by the state and several national entities. The massive administrative burden was killing us.

We knew we needed a much better system to track our safety and risk data. We had nothing systematized before and with our many principal investigators or PIs, using spreadsheets wasn’t cutting it. We could try to DIY it ourselves, but the in-house software expertise needed along with available time wasn’t going to work for us – we just don’t have the bandwidth to develop and maintain our own system. We’re a large research enterprise but building out our own solution was tough!

So, we got both the Inspections and Training modules – they worked great right out of the box! It allowed us to jump ahead several steps. We could dive in quickly, it lessened our administrative burden, and it helped our staff! We can now manage our chemical inventories – it helped us use our few resources much better. We’re continuing on and growing – it’s been a great relief!

We’re so glad we went with SciShield – thanks for being our life raft!

Sean Fitzgerald, Manager of Biological Safety and EHS, Chair of the Institutional Biological Safety Committee, Hackensack Meridian Health (HMH)

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“With our 500 facilities and only a handful of safety professionals, SciShield is our life raft!”

Learn how Sean Fitzgerald from Hackensack Meridian Health improves lab safety and compliance with SciShield's innovative solutions.

eLabNext Team
Jonathan Klane
|
2 min read

[Story narrated in their words by Sony Heir, prepared and written as a story by Jonathan Klane]

“Your training system will eventually fail. You may wish to get a new one.” No truer words were spoken. These were from the regulator inspecting our NEIDL Facility (with BSL-4 labs). We can’t operate if we don’t have accurate and trackable training. Or if a regulator shuts us down over it. Great – now what?

Facilities were doing in-person toolbox talks – you know, swipe their card, get an attendance record, and try to merge it with the training. It was awkward, clumsy, and time consuming.

I had the solution – “Let’s use our SciShield Training to systematize it!” Their response? “It won’t happen. It won’t work. The guys won’t log in. There are language challenges. Don’t bother even trying.” Ugh.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t like getting “no” for an answer. So, I asked if we knew how many we trained? “No, we don’t know”. We needed to use SciShield.

Then the pandemic hits and we can’t do in-person training anymore. Now it’s, “Sony, can we do these online?” Cool! “Yes, but there’s no records with our online PowerPoints.”

Finally, we’re trying to roll it out to Facilities who have 34 different groups with over 700 people total! Large and complex to be sure.

We wanted to be able to see compliance in each “Area” – so, I I made each Area Manager a Sub-group Manager in SciShield with access to their employees’ records. I sent each manager an email with direct links to “bookmark these, please!”

Talk about a fantastic start - their first trainings started on a Monday and by Wednesday they had >65% compliance! Better still, within just 2 weeks they had >90% compliance!

We got lots of positive feedback! But we didn’t include a quiz – did that matter in our numbers? Everyone loved that we had actionable data for the first time! Their Director, Bill, put all of their training courses into SciShield – he loved it that much!

Next, we gave a bloodborne pathogens course from Vivid Learning (a SciShield partner for training) with a quiz. “Now we’ll see.” This time within a month, we had >90% compliance again! That was the convincer – the directive came down, “Put as many trainings as possible into SciShield!”

And what about those skeptics? Even with >700 Facilities folks, we had fewer than 5 problems with logging in, etc. – an amazing success!

Then we got new skeptics who claimed, “We have to keep our existing programs just in case!” They wanted integrations between SciShield and old ones. Guess what? None were worth it! We weren’t gaining anything and the efforts were wasting our limited time.

The old systems had no records and so our folks repeated the same courses they’d taken. But in SciShield the records are all there and easy to see. Finally, we had to and did let go of all of the old systems and as I told folks, “We are not going back!”

Managers now can discuss how it’s going, any training issues, who attended, their data, the quizzes, etc. It seems impossible especially with “covid time” – but we accomplished so much in these 9-10 months that we never would’ve before!

And now? We have actionable data, Facilities takes the learning into the field, and work out any challenges. People are amazed and happy with the outcome and what it means for us! We’re happy (and no one wants to go back to the old ways).

Back to our NEIDL facility and the regulator - we’re no longer worried about being inspected. “Do you have training data you can show us?” – well, back before SciShield, the answer was, “No, we don’t have real-time compliance data,” - now, it’s “Heck yes! We know our training data – here look at it all!”

Sony Heir, Associate Director, EHS Systems and Training at Boston University (BU)

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Environmental, Health & Safety

Training troubles, facility folks, colossal compliance! | Sony Heir

ChemTracker by SciShield improves chemical inventory management and compliance for tough tech, streamlining operations at The Engine Accelerator.

eLabNext Team
Jonathan Klane
|
4 min read

Story narrated in their words by Kimi Brown, collaboratively prepared and written as a story by Kimi Brown and Jonathan Klane

Sometimes I’m shocked we were even able to get inspections completed before we had SciShield. The inspectors had to use of mix of pen and paper, Word documents, PDFs, a scanner, email, and even a fax machine to send reports and document signatures! Our original goal was to replace all that with something that could be done on an iPad or tablet. Once we populated the SciShield platform with all our labs’ information, though, we started getting creative. We found we could use this tool to solve other problems that we didn’t even realize we had!

Using the hazard profile, we can now ask things during the inspection like, “Oh, I see you have flammable gases. That’s new! Can you tell us what you’re working with and how you’re using it?” We started having these interesting conversations about lab hazards that maybe weren’t obvious during a visible inspection of the lab space, plus we were able to close the loop more easily on the corrective actions we were assigning during our visits. The inspections became much less about paperwork and more about understanding what truly matters to the lab group – their research.

Now that we’ve implemented ChemTracker, we can also evaluate chemical quantities, hazards, and locations even when we’re not in the lab—or on campus, for that matter!

I can be sitting in a lab design meeting, and someone will say, “Should we put this lab on the 2nd or the 7th floor of that building?” A few minutes later I can tell the team how much hazardous material the lab has and whether placing that on a higher floor of the building would be permissible under fire code (or what kinds of controls would be needed to make it possible). This is a common issue on an urban campus like ours with several high-rise biomedical buildings.

We knew that SciShield would streamline our inspections, but we didn’t expect that it would help us to prevent future issues or to have more meaningful connections with researchers. I honestly don’t know how we ever got this job done without it!

Kimi Brown, NRCC-CHO, CSP, ARMSr. Lab Safety Specialist/Chemical Hygiene OfficerUniversity of Pennsylvania

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“SciShield? I honestly don’t know how we ever got this job done without it!” by Kimi Brown

SciShield streamlined our inspections and helped prevent future issues while fostering more meaningful connections with researchers.

eLabNext Team
Jonathan Klane
|
2 min read

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdQzm732k2QIn science, losing data and samples is a major problem. Increasingly, lab digitization is becoming a requirement. The answer is eLabNext.Control procedures with eLabProtocols, manage samples and equipment with eLabInventory, or combine eLabProtocols and eLabInventory with an ELN for managing data and experiments in eLabJournal - our most complete software package.< Back to overview

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News

eLabNext - Elevating your research!

Control procedures with eLabProtocols, manage samples and equipment with eLabInventory, or combine eLabProtocols and eLabInventory with an ELN for managing data and experiments in eLabJournal

eLabNext Team
|
1 min read

An inspection program can be difficult to run in the best of times. Now, teams that are already dealing with substantial challenges must ensure safe working conditions are maintained. [this webinar aired on September 22, 2020]

Meet the Panelists:

Angela Dartt, Ph.D., CIH

Director, Office of Chemical SafetyWashington University in St. LouisLinkedInTwitter

Dr. Dartt is a mom of two amazing girls, passionate occupational and EH&S professional and IH! She leads the research inspection team at WashU, which involves EH&S support and inspections for over 700 PIs and 4000 research spaces. She is currently Chair of the NIOSH Mountain and Plains Education and Research Center External Advisory Panel, Co-Lead of the CSHEMA IH CoP, and member of the AIHA Laboratory Health and Safety Committee.

Chris Kolodziej, Ph.D.

Chemical Hygiene OfficerUniversity of California, Los AngelesLinkedIn

Chris received his Ph.D. in Chemistry from UCLA in 2011. After a short stint in the private sector, he returned to UCLA and joined the Office of Environment, Health & Safety in 2015. Chris currently serves as the campus Chemical Hygiene Officer where he uses his experiences to help promote safety while reducing compliance burden for UCLA researches through application of risk assessment and integrated safety management.

Matt Segal

MCSciShieldmatt.segal@bioraft.com

Matt found his way to SciShield after working at Boston Children's Hospital performing translational rare blood disease research. As the safety guy in his lab, he saw firsthand how challenging it was to manage safety in a laboratory environment and wanted to find a way to help. He now spends his time hosting webinars, arguing with his 3D printer, and cooking food in plastic bags at low temperatures.

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EHS Webinars

Managing Inspections in a COVID-19 World

An inspection program can be difficult to run in the best of times. Now, teams that are already dealing with substantial challenges must ensure safe working conditions are maintained. [this webinar aired on September 22, 2020]

eLabNext Team
Matt Segal
|
2 min read
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