Lab safety and research productivity are not at odds
Thursday, June 8, 2023 - 15:33
in Physics & Chemistry
Prioritizing lab safety doesn’t hamper research productivity. That’s the main takeaway of a working paper published last week by the National Bureau of Economic Research and accepted for publication in Research Policy . Safety experts are cautiously optimistic these results may help support further cultural and institutional change to address poor laboratory practices in academia. “Doing research safely doesn’t impede science. And scientists need to see that,” says Craig Merlic, an organic chemist at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and executive director of the UC Center for Laboratory Safety who wasn’t involved in the study. ...