Scientists in a modern laboratory participating in a lab safety training session, wearing protective gear including lab coats, gloves, and safety goggles.

iStock/sanjeri

Fantasy Lab Accidents: An Effective Approach to Lab Safety Training

Lab accidents cost time, money, and reputation. Discover an engaging way to improve lab safety training and prevent incidents before they occur

| 4 min read
Register for free to listen to this article
Listen with Speechify
0:00
4:00

“The unexpected blow lands heaviest,” said Seneca almost 2,000 years ago.

If you work in a lab long enough, an accident will occur. Expecting an accident helps minimize its impact, while failing to do so increases negative outcomes and drives up costs.

Lab manager academy logo

Get training in Risk Management and Mitigation and earn CEUs.

One of over 25 IACET-accredited courses in the Academy.

Certification logo

Risk Management and Mitigation course

How can you realistically prepare for the worst and assess the cost of a potential accident?? Play a lab safety training game: “fantasy lab accident.”

What is a fantasy lab accident and how can it improve your lab's safety training?

It is playing a game with your colleagues to assess how a lab accident would impact your organization. Fantasy lab accident can be adapted to your organization, include your specific roles and responsibilities, feature the hazards your organization should address, and is a good team building exercise. Invite all key stakeholders across your organization to lunch or an afternoon retreat to address a single scenario. Talk through the entire accident. Listen to each other and build camaraderie.

Before acting out a specific lab accident scenario, have an open discussion with your team to gather information and any potential assumptions about individual roles. Ask questions like:

  • What are the hazards in your lab?
  • Who should be aware of these hazards?
  • Who is responsible for addressing these hazards?
  • What opportunities do these hazards present for proactive prevention?

You may find that some people are unaware of all their responsibilities, and this is an easy way to remind them. Knowing who is responsible for what during an accident will save valuable time. It is also an opportunity for those not normally exposed to the lab to be prepared to address concerns that may arise from a lab accident. During an accident is not the time to figure out a communications plan, for example.

Once all stakeholders across the organization are on the same page, you can move on to the role-playing scenario. Here’s one as an example:

Interested in lab health and safety?

Subscribe to our free Lab Health & Safety Newsletter.

Is the form not loading? If you use an ad blocker or browser privacy features, try turning them off and refresh the page.

Lab safety training scenario: An employee suffered a non-lethal injury in a lab from a hazardous material and is being transported by paramedics to the hospital. 

How can your organization minimize any negative outcomes? Prepare and have plans ready to implement in advance. Useful plans come from multiple perspectives and allow everyone involved an opportunity to contribute. Your response is biased by your position and experience; therefore, diverse perspectives will benefit this exercise and result in a vertically integrated plan. Each person has a set of responsibilities based on their role in the organization as defined by their job description. For each position, instruct  them to anticipate their top concerns.

Emergency responders have been included below because they will potentially be involved in an accident and your organization needs to be prepared to interact with them efficaciously in the moment. You may even consider inviting a local representative to attend the fantasy lab accident. You can benefit from their knowledge, too.

EmployeeWhat useful information can be conveyed and to whom? How can nearby colleagues assist in the immediate aftermath of an accident?
Emergency respondersWhat happened?
How can emergency responders safely assist the injured?
Lab managerWhat happened?
How can work continue?
Occupational healthWhat information does the hospital need?
How can this accident be prevented in the future?
Workman's compensationWas the employee injured in a work-related accident?
Was the employee conducting their work in an appropriate manner?
Environmental health & safetyIs the facility safe?
What cleaning, repairs, etc. need to be done?
CommunicationsWhat information do we need to know? 
What information needs to be known, by whom, and when?
General counselIs anyone at fault?
What are the outstanding liabilities to the organization (OSHA, FDA, USDA, etc.)?
Executive managementHow does this event impact the organization?
Does it cost more to prevent this from occurring again or is this an acceptable future liability?
Eight common roles involved in lab accident responses

A lab accident’s true cost: Time, money, and reputation (or worse)

Inside the above exercise, the concerns each position presents when facing a lab accident reveal the true costs—time, money, and reputation. An accident immediately results in lost employee-hours: the injured (or dead) and those using their time after the fact. Consider not just the employees covering for the recovering employee, but also others that may need to be part of an investigation (internally and/or externally), communicating with and preparing reports to comply with outside agencies, or executives answering unenviable questions.

Lost time equals lost money in the corporate world. Lost time working in the lab also makes a company less competitive. Not to mention the potential fines by regulatory agencies, legal fees, settlement costs, etc. The business's reputation suffers—not only from being perceived as unsafe for employees and the surrounding community but also in the eyes of investors and owners.

Improved preparedness will reduce the costs of a future accident and may even prevent an accident from occurring by improving current safety conditions. Sharing the lab’s processes for improved preparedness with the community and investors creates good will and an opportunity for increased financial benefit.

When an accident occurs, time is of the essence. The quicker you can respond effectively, the less severe the outcome of the accident. For example, knowing when, where, and how to get into a safety shower can result in a dramatically different outcome than not knowing.

Empathy: A valuable side-effect

As you work with your colleagues through various fantasy lab accidents, empathy hopefully emerges (especially for the injured person). Understanding each person’s roles and responsibilities is a valuable exercise. Empathy improves as everyone in the organization has a better idea of how they are connected to the overall mission. Increased empathy will result in improved safety outcomes and a more positive safety culture. Having an organization where the employees feel appreciated by the organization and the organization demonstrates value for their employees has a positive overall effect on the health of the employees and the company’s bottom line.

Beyond compliance

Not once was the word “compliance” used in the preceding paragraphs. Yes, being compliant is important and is a good place to start, but it certainly does not represent the entirety of building a more positive safety culture. Addressing concerns and hazards using the fantasy lab accident will inherently build in compliance with a focus on collaboration between units within your organization.

“For the only safe harbor in this life’s tossing, troubled sea is to refuse to be bothered about what the future will bring and to stand ready and confident, squaring the breast to take without skulking or flinching whatever fortune hurls at us” concludes Seneca. This quote sums up well the idea of being prepared for that future lab accident, which fortune will surely bring.

About the Author

  • Anthony Appleton, PhD

    Anthony Appleton, PhD, recently retired. He was the leader of Colorado State University’s Research Safety Culture Program, which won three national awards for marketing and communications. Anthony has co-authored twenty peer-reviewed articles. He was also a member of Stanford's University Committee on Health and Safety's (UCHS) Task Force for Advancing the Culture of Laboratory Safety, which generated the influential report "Advancing Safety Culture in the University Laboratory."

Related Topics

Loading Next Article...
Loading Next Article...

CURRENT ISSUE - January/February 2025

Energizing Leadership in Action

The science-backed behaviors that help leaders inspire thriving teams and organizations

Lab Manager January/February 2025 Cover Image