A safety minute is a short, interactive activity designed to foster regular discussions about a relevant safety topic. Each week, a new researcher picks a topic/activity and leads a discussion during group meeting. Safety minutes often result in the group building a cohesive, proactive plan for various safety scenarios. Examples include:
- Create a gradle-to-grave plan for a reaction using a particular reagent.
- The lab is placed under a tornado warning. What do you do?
- Draw a map of the lab space from memory, noting important safety features.
- Review of SOP for lab instrumentation.
A few tips for adopting Safety Minutes and making them successful.
- Incorporate into an existing meeting (group meetings, seminars, etc.).
- Involve researchers in the generation of content and leading presentations.
- Pick topics that are relevant to ongoing research to increase engagement.
- Incorporate aspects of active learning that promotes interactive discussion.
- Build an environment that invites multiple perspectives, especially those of younger researchers who may feel nervous participating.