Building a safe lab environment starts long before the first experiment. It begins the moment a new hire walks through the door and sees how safety is practiced, not just how it’s documented.
From day one, employees notice whether safety is treated as an everyday priority or an item to check off a training list. They watch what managers do, not just what policies say. A lab tour, a first conversation about expectations, or the way a senior colleague handles protective equipment—these details quickly signal what matters most.
The strongest safety cultures are shaped by leaders who make expectations clear, practical, and consistent from the start. When safety is visible, reinforced, and treated as a shared responsibility, it becomes part of the lab’s identity rather than an afterthought.
In recent Lab Manager webinars—Onboarding Techniques to Minimize Safety Gaps and Start Safe, End Safe: Building a Continuous Lab Safety Culture—Dan Scungio, a laboratory safety consultant, and Alyssa M. Hua, PhD, laboratory safety program supervisor at UC Davis, offer a clear picture of what intentional onboarding looks like—and why it matters for building a strong safety culture.
Tell the story behind the rules
Most labs assume that new hires understand the basics of personal protective equipment and hazard labels. But what they don’t always understand—or rarely hear—is why policies exist in the first place. Without context, rules can feel arbitrary or bureaucratic.
Hua has seen this disconnect firsthand. Early in her career, she and her colleagues often viewed Environmental Health & Safety inspections as little more than lists of citations and deficiencies. The experience left them feeling discouraged rather than informed, with little sense of why so many requirements existed.
“Learning my roles,” she said, “[was when] I started to understand and appreciate regulations and policies, and where they’re coming from . . . It was understanding that these came from real-life incidents that triggered certain safety policies.”
Bridging that gap requires storytelling. When onboarding new staff, many safety leaders now share examples of incidents, such as lab fires, exposures, and accidents, that could happen anywhere. Scungio has noticed that grounding policies in real events helps people see that safety rules are written in the aftermath of lessons learned the hard way. Sharing these stories isn’t about fear—it’s about making the stakes real.
Meet people where they learn best
Today’s labs include professionals from several generations, ranging from Baby Boomers to Gen Z. Each group brings unique strengths and distinct learning preferences. A one-size-fits-all approach rarely sticks.
Scungio urges managers to tailor training formats to fit the audience. Baby Boomers often respond well to videos and in-person demonstrations, while Generation X prefers customized online modules, and Millennials gravitate toward mentorship. Even Gen Z, now entering the workforce, expects training to be interactive and authentic.
Millennials, in particular, look to colleagues who have built long careers. “The millennial group tends to look to people—like veterans and boomers—who have lots of experience, and they honor that experience,” Scungio said. “That’s a valuable tool.”
Make safety tangible before work begins
Scungio emphasizes that training should occur before employees begin working. “Many of the items you’re going to tackle have to be tackled with a new employee before they even get to the bench,” he said. A walk-through of the lab is not just a tour—it’s an introduction to what vigilance looks like in practice.
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Point out emergency showers and eyewash stations. Show where fire extinguishers are stored and explain how to use them. Walk through evacuation routes. Then have new employees demonstrate these steps themselves.
Promote safety beyond the onboarding process
Initial training is just that—a start. Scungio recommends creating a safety calendar that covers core topics on a rotating basis. Repetition reinforces awareness, and planned refreshers prevent safety from fading into background noise.
Monthly or quarterly drills are essential for emergencies that happen rarely but escalate quickly. A real chemical spill, a fire, or a severe exposure should never be the first time someone tests their knowledge.
“You don’t want your laboratorian reading the directions on a fire extinguisher in the middle of a fire in the lab,” Scungio said. “You want them to know, ‘Oh, I got to pull the pin, aim at the base of the fire, squeeze and sweep.’”
Lead with trust and accountability
Sustaining a strong safety culture requires more than enforcement. Hua urges managers to think about clear communication, transparency, and consistent follow-up when implementing changes.
“You want to help them understand the goal of these safety policies and regulations and have them understand that it’s to protect them,” she said. “[You want to] partner with them [. . .] and empower them to achieve safety and compliance versus policing and just enforcing.”
Hua describes how her team at UC Davis uses templates and resources to close gaps more efficiently. “You want to think about how you can make it easy to use,” said Hua. “Are there templates you can develop [or] trainings you can develop to share with them to help close that gap a little bit more quickly?”
Accountability is just as critical. Scungio recommends pairing observation with positive reinforcement to keep safety at the forefront. “There is science out there that says that a five-to-one ratio—five positives to one negative—is the way to change your safety culture,” he said. “When you’re talking to your coworkers and making comments about their safety habits, make sure you’re talking about the good ones as well.”
Cultivate champions and celebrate progress
Designating safety representatives is one way to integrate safety into daily routines and make it clear that it is everyone’s responsibility. Scungio explains that managers can develop these employees into strong advocates by offering training and clear expectations.
“You have to train them and give them some skill development,” he said. “How do you coach other people? How do you coach your coworkers? Or can you coach your leader?”
Recognition also reinforces the idea that safety excellence matters and motivates teams to stay engaged. Hua shares that her program at UC Davis compiles annual data from lab inspections to spotlight top-performing groups across the campus.
“We compile it down so that we have a list of our top performers in lab safety,” she said. “At minimum, we provide them space and recognition for doing a great job with their lab safety programs.”
Safety culture starts—and stays—with you
Ultimately, safety culture reflects leadership, and it begins the moment a new employee joins your team. Onboarding isn’t just about paperwork or checklists—it is your first and best opportunity to show that safety is a shared priority.
As Scungio observes, some labs rely on habit and luck to avoid incidents, but luck is never a reliable strategy. Building a safe lab requires deliberate effort and daily reinforcement.
When you make that effort visible from day one, you set the tone for a culture where everyone goes home safe every day.
