ACS Chemical Health and Safety Division

Why Fume Hoods Go Wrong - And How to Make Them Right
2025-05-05 09:00 - 13:00 (America/New_York) | Online
There are more than 1 million laboratory chemical fume hoods in the USA and more than 15% have one or more safety problems. The three main areas to be covered in this presentation are: Setting up the fume hood safely and testing it; connecting to the air conditioning; and getting exhaust away from the lab building. Testing has shown that over 5% have chemical vapors blown back into the lab building by the wind.

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Laboratory Waste Management
2025-05-06 09:00 - 13:00 | Online
Each new generation of laboratory personnel is quickly confronted with the requirement to properly manage chemical waste in compliance with state and federal regulations as well as facility policies. This presentation introduces the full scope of regulation, with a focus on waste determinations, disposal technologies, variances & exemptions, and appropriate training of workers. In addition, the workshop will discuss economic and liability decisions necessary for effective waste management. Whether you are new to lab waste or just need a refresher, this program will give you what you need to manage waste safely and in compliance with requirements.

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How to Convince Others that Safety is Important
2025-05-07 09:00 - 13:00 | Online
Throughout the world, this is the most frequently asked question about lab safety. The answer is simple and, for the most part, inexpensive. The short answer is to create a more effective lab safety program. This interesting and entertaining four-hour presentation provides an overview of some of the 33 critical program elements. It confronts one of the more common excuses for not having or improving the lab safety program … “It costs too much.” This is simply not true. Excellent lab safety programs do not need to cost large amounts of money.
Participants learn how to convince others by creating a more effective lab safety program (without a purchase order or requisition). You don’t want to miss this opportunity for a highly informative, worthwhile and enjoyable learning experience. Here’s a unique opportunity to take a look at your lab safety program to see how you’re doing and how you can do it even better. The participants will receive the Laboratory Safety Institute’s (LSI) lab safety program review checklist with 33 components. You will learn how to use this checklist to evaluate your program both qualitatively and quantitatively. The result is a simple, clear, low/no cost path for lab safety program development and improvement. And, with courage, you can score your program on a scale of zero to 100!

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Assessing & Updating Lab Safety Protocols for Methylene Chloride Compliance
2025-05-08 09:00 - 13:00 | Online
The recently published EPA TSCA final rule on methylene chloride bans most uses of this chemical. Laboratory handling is permitted only if potentially exposed persons are covered by a compliant Workplace Chemical Protection Program (WCCP). This includes requirements for exposure assessment and a significantly lower action level and occupational exposure limits than required by the OSHA Methylene Chloride standard (29 CFR 1910.1052). This workshop is intended to provide attendees with information necessary to meet the requirements of this regulation or to knowledgably engage with a qualified industrial hygienist to perform sampling and develop the necessary Exposure Control Plan. Topics covered in this presentation will include a review of and discussion about:

The health hazards associated with methylene chloride
Requirements of a Workplace Chemical Protection Program (WCCP) and timeline for implementation
The application of OSHA standards in the laboratory environment as required by the WCCP
Developing a sampling plan to characterize exposures to methylene chloride
Control strategies for managing exposure to methylene chloride in the laboratory
Developing and Exposure Control Plan
Maintaining the program documentation necessary for compliance

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How to Be a More Effective Chemical Hygiene Officer (CHO)
2025-05-09 09:00 - 13:00 | Online
CHAS offers the How to be a more effective Chemical Hygiene Officer workshop to provide participants with a detailed analysis of the CHO position and to prepare for the “CHO” Certification exam. Participants receive a clear perspective on safety issues in the laboratory, focusing on what the CHO does and how to do it better. OSHA, EPA & DOT regulations that impact laboratory operations are included in the discussion.
The workshop covers the content areas of the NRCC certification exam, including a sample test in the same format as the real one. Whether you are a new Chemical Hygiene Officer or an “old” one, you will find something to put to real use in this fast-paced presentation. There is extensive opportunity for questions during the workshop and with follow-up by phone and email.

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2YC CHAS Chat: You are Now in Charge of Safety, Now What?
2025-11-20 11:00 - 12:00 | Online
This free, interactive discussion will identify the tools to help you become an effective embedded safety professional (at your institution and/or in your class).

Registration:

2YC CHAS Chat: You are Now in Charge of Safety, Now What? Tickets, Thu, Nov 20, 2025 at 4:00 PM | Eventbrite

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2YC CHAS Chat: Industry Safety Expectations and Engagement for 2YC Chemistry Graduates and Technicians
2026-02-19 15:00 - 16:00
Please join the 2YC Lab Safety Community for our next CHAS Chat: “Industry Safety Expectations and Engagement for 2YC Chemistry Graduates and Technicians”. This free, interactive discussion will take place from 4:00-5:00 PM EDT on Thursday, February 19, 2026. Using the RAMP framework (Recognize Hazards, Assess Risk, Minimize Risk, Prepare for Emergencies), we will discuss the basic knowledge, skills, and abilities that industrial employers expect from chemical technicians and chemistry graduates from a two-year program. The session will be co-led by CHAS Chair-elect/2YC Lab Safety Community of Practice Chair, Dwayne Henry, and industry representative from Midwest Chemical Safety, Harry Elston. Though geared towards 2-year institutions, information provided may be applied to 4-year institution students and graduates as well.

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Risk Management in the Research Lab
2026-03-08 15:00 - 18:30
We are holding the next ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety Workshop “RAMP in the Research Lab” on Sunday, March 8, 2026, from 3 PM to 6:30 PM EDT via Zoom. This 3.5-hour workshop is for frontline researchers in academic institutions: graduate students, postdoctoral scholars, and undergraduate students. It will introduce the principles of the RAMP paradigm (recognize hazards, assess risk, minimize risk, and prepare for emergencies), through a series of case studies and discussion sessions focused on practicing each of the RAMP steps. By the end, attendees will have learned and practiced how to systematically do a risk assessment of both existing protocols as well as for past incidents. Register by February 28, 2026.

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ACS Spring National Meeting
2026-03-22 08:30 - 2026-03-25 18:00 | Georgia World Congress Center, 285 Andrew Young International Blvd NW, Atlanta, Georgia, 30313
Please join us for our Technical & Social Programming for the 2026 ACS Spring Meeting. We have listed for your consideration CHAS and CANN sponsored and co-sponsored symposia and socials in the CHAS-at-a-glance flyer. This outstanding set of talks will help you be successful and work safely.

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Empowering Academic Researchers to Strengthen Safety Culture
2026-03-29 14:00 - 17:30
This 3-hour workshop is primarily directed at frontline researchers in academic institutions: graduate students, postdoctoral scholars, and undergraduate students.

This workshop discusses the challenges of students making the transition to being independent researchers in academia. Topics discussed include: risk assessment of research projects, understanding the often confusing safety hierarchies of academic institutions, and graduate student led Laboratory Safety Teams.

Workshop goals are to:

Educate participants about the value of risk assessment

Guide participants towards gaining awareness of safety culture messages from the leadership at their institutions

Empower participants to expand their safety networks and develop laboratory safety teams.

Faculty and safety staff are encouraged to attend in order to expand their understanding of these challenges and seek ways to become better Champions for these researchers.

This workshop is designed to be highly interactive, both to encourage networking among our participants and to support participants in developing functional plans to take back to their institutions. We utilize the Zoom platform to support both large group and small group activities. Those who have reported the workshop as useful are also those who heavily engaged. The participants add value to this workshop as much, if not more than, the organizers!

While we certainly understand that the unevenness of Internet connectivity and the challenges of work-from-home can serve as barriers, we strongly advise you to come to this workshop prepared to engage with mics and cameras on! If this is not possible, we ask that you engage via the chat function.

While this workshop has been designed from a US perspective, we have had participants from multiple countries report that they found it useful as well! This international audience is just one more reason why the interactivity among participants is so vital to the success of the workshop for all participants!

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Creating the Safety Conversations Graduate Students Need
2026-06-03 16:00 - 17:00
Led by: Jessica Martin, PhD, Podcast creator/host of Skilled, Safe, and Trailblazing

DATE & TIME: Thursday, June 4, 2026, 4-5 PM EDT

Many graduate student researchers have experienced laboratory safety conversations that did not fully address the realities, pressures, and decision-making challenges they faced in research environments. In response, graduate students working with the ACS Division of Chemical Health and Safety helped create new opportunities for peer engagement, leadership, and professional development around laboratory safety as part of their research.This virtual session will highlight the evolution of those efforts, including the development of CHAS peer-led workshops, a graduate student-organized ACS symposium focused on researcher needs and experiences, and a graduate student safety certificate developed through collaboration with the ExxonMobil PALS Program, a university Laboratory Safety Team, and the Campus Safety Health and Environmental Management Association (CSHEMA).

Join us to hear how graduate student leadership and cross-organizational partnerships are helping build more relevant, engaging, and impactful approaches to laboratory safety culture.

Registration

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ACS CHAS Empowering Academic Researchers to Strengthen Safety Culture
2026-06-07 15:00 - 18:30
This 3.5-hour workshop is primarily directed at frontline researchers in academic institutions: graduate students, postdoctoral scholars, and undergraduate students.

This workshop discusses the challenges of students making the transition to being independent researchers in academia. Topics discussed include: risk assessment of research projects, understanding the often confusing safety hierarchies of academic institutions, and graduate student led Laboratory Safety Teams.

Workshop goals are to:

Educate participants about the value of risk assessment

Guide participants towards gaining awareness of safety culture messages from the leadership at their institutions

Empower participants to expand their safety networks and develop laboratory safety teams.

Faculty and safety staff are encouraged to attend in order to expand their understanding of these challenges and seek ways to become better Champions for these researchers.

This workshop is designed to be highly interactive, both to encourage networking among our participants and to support participants in developing functional plans to take back to their institutions. We utilize the Zoom platform to support both large group and small group activities. Those who have reported the workshop as useful are also those who heavily engaged. The participants add value to this workshop as much, if not more than, the organizers!

While we certainly understand that the unevenness of Internet connectivity and the challenges of work-from-home can serve as barriers, we strongly advise you to come to this workshop prepared to engage with mics and cameras on! If this is not possible, we ask that you engage via the chat function.

While this workshop has been designed from a US perspective, we have had participants from multiple countries report that they found it useful as well! This international audience is just one more reason why the interactivity among participants is so vital to the success of the workshop for all participants!

Registration

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Building an Integrated Safety Approach in Your Chemistry Department
2026-06-11 14:00 - 15:00
Safety in the lab shouldn’t be a one-day lecture or a checklist, it should be how students think and work as scientists.

Join Daniel Jacques of SUNY Brockport for a practical, classroom-tested approach to embedding safety across the undergraduate chemistry experience. This webinar repositions safety as an active learning process, not a standalone requirement. Using the free Laboratory Safety for Chemistry Students (LSCS) e-Textbook, you’ll see how students can learn to recognize hazards, assess risk, and make informed decisions in real time. Grounded in authentic academic lab settings, this webinar goes beyond theory to offer strategies you can implement immediately. Discover how to create alignment across courses, student roles, and time so that safety is reinforced consistently. Following this discussion, you will understand how a safety mindset becomes intrinsic to student practice of chemistry when exposure to safety is reinforced rather than fragmented.

This ACS Webinar is moderated by Rachel Lee Bocwinski of the American Chemical Society and co-produced with the ACS Office of Safety Programs. As part of ACS’ ongoing celebration of our 150th anniversary, this month we reaffirm our commitment to safety by elevating lab protocols, chemical risk awareness, and environmental health standards.

What You Will Learn

Practical ways to use the LSCS e-Textbook and the RAMP® framework to build student independence, confidence, and critical thinking

Insight into where safety instruction breaks down across courses and roles, and how to create a cohesive, reinforced approach

Actionable entry points to embed safety into your existing curriculum, leveraging TAs and student roles even within real institutional constraints

Registration

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Greener Alternatives for Dichloromethane (DCM) and Other Solvents
2026-06-18 16:00 - 17:00
In celebration of the ACS 150th anniversary and June being National Safety Month, please join the ACS Division of Chemical Health & Safety Two-Year College Lab Safety Community of Practice on Thursday, June 18th for “Make Your Lab Less Toxic: Greener Alternatives for Dichloromethane (DCM) and Other Solvents”. Over the course of this interactive session, we will discuss incorporating greener alternatives that are presented in this free poster, https://www.acs.org/green-chemistry-sustainability/research-innovation/solvents/dcm/greener-alternatives-to-dichloromethane-poster.html. The session will be led by CHAS 2026 Chair-elect/2YC Lab Safety Community of Practice Chair, Dwayne Henry, as well as special guest alternative solvent experts to be announced soon! Though geared towards 2-year institutions, information provided may be applied to 4-year institution students and graduates as well.

Registration

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Lab Safety Showdown
2026-06-23 13:00 - 14:00
Test your skills! Win gift cards! Earn bragging rights! Spread the word to all your chemist and chemistry adjacent friends – can’t wait to see everyone there!

REGISTRATION

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How to Create a More Effective Lab Safety Program
2026-07-07 13:00 - 17:00
This interesting and entertaining half-day workshop confronts one of the more common excuses for not having or improving the lab safety program … “It costs too much.” This is simply not true. Excellent lab safety programs do not need to cost large amounts of money. Thirty-three simple lab safety program components will be presented and discussed to demonstrate this important theme. These are the critical components for an effective lab safety program. Participants learn how to create a more effective lab safety program without a purchase order or requisition. You don’t want to miss this opportunity for a highly informative, worthwhile and enjoyable learning experience.

Here’s a unique opportunity to take a look at your lab safety program to see how you’re doing and how you can do it even better. The workshop participants will receive the Laboratory Safety Institute’s (LSI) lab safety program review checklist with 33 components. You will learn how to use this checklist to evaluate your program both qualitatively and quantitatively. The result is a simple, clear, low/no cost path for lab safety program development. And, with courage, you can score your program on a scale of zero to 100!

REGISTRATION

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How to Be a More Effective Chemical Hygiene Officer (CHO)
2026-07-08 13:00 - 17:00
Workshop hosted by Russ Phifer and Jim Kaufman on Wednesday July 8th, 2026 from 1-5 pm ET.

CHAS offers the How to be a more effective Chemical Hygiene Officer workshop to provide participants with a detailed analysis of the CHO position and to prepare for the “CHO” Certification exam. Participants receive a clear perspective on safety issues in the laboratory, focusing on what the CHO does and how to do it better. OSHA, EPA & DOT regulations that impact laboratory operations are included in the discussion.

The workshop covers the content areas of the NRCC certification exam, including a sample test in the same format as the real one. Whether you are a new Chemical Hygiene Officer or an “old” one, you will find something to put to real use in this fast-paced presentation. There is extensive opportunity for questions during the workshop and with follow-up by phone and email.

Trainer: Russ Phifer, WC Environmental and Jim Kaufman, Laboratory Safety Institute

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The AI-Augmented Safety Professional: Enhancing Workflows
2026-07-09 13:00 - 17:00
Introducing Artificial Intelligence tools or “assistants’ that, if properly implemented enhance Health and Safety.

As the work demands grow, Chemical Health and Safety (CHAS) professionals are increasingly asked to do more with less and are challenged to manage the “administrative tax” of any job. Luckily, technology has also helped by introducing Artificial Intelligence tools or “assistants’ that, if properly implemented, can reduce the stress and time devoted to the “administrative taxes” of day-to-day work and allow the individual to focus on the part of the job they enjoy. However, in the high-stakes world of chemical safety, a “simple prompt” is not enough. This intensive webinar is designed to move safety professionals beyond basic chatbots and into the role of an AI Orchestrator.

Participants will explore a hands-on Human-in-the-Loop framework tailored to thework of the CHAS professional. As part of the workshop, you will

Get an introduction to the variety AI tools that are available

Learn how to Engineer Prompts to provide you AI Assistant with the information needed to support your particular task.

Use AI to draft initial Standard Operating Procedures and safety manuals, followed by rigorous expert verification protocols.

Use AI to develop and enhance engaging training modules, video scripts, and “safety shorts” for diverse learning styles.

Leverage AI to identify trends in incident reports or to refine technical communications for non-expert audiences.

Take a critical deep dive into the risks of AI “hallucinations” in chemical contexts, privacy concerns regarding sensitive lab data, and the non-negotiable necessity of expert oversight.

By the end of this session, attendees will have a personalized “AI Workflow Toolkit” designed to reduce burnout and increase efficiency without compromising the uncompromising standards of chemical safety.

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Laboratory Waste Management
2026-07-13 13:00 - 17:00
The Lab Waste Management workshop is designed to assist participants with the various regulatory requirements that apply to lab waste

CHAS offers the Laboratory Waste Management workshop to assist participants with the various regulatory requirements that apply to laboratories which generate hazardous waste, as well as to provide insight into the options for on-site management and off-site disposal. Includes details on the Hazardous Waste Improvement Rule and how it impacts laboratories. Focus will include discussion on recycling/ reclamation techniques, economical handling of wastes and liability issues. There is extensive opportunity for questions both during the workshop with follow-up by phone and email.

Taught by Russ Phifer, WC Environmental

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