Extracurricular Student Groups: The Final Frontier of Undergraduate Safety

Safety initiatives at the university level have been expanding in recent years to encompass every part of chemistry, from academic research laboratories to undergraduate teaching laboratories. Unfortunately, efforts in extracurricular student group safety have stalled due to a lack of legal liability, poor definitions of the safety roles for advisers and mentors, and a lack of knowledge among undergraduate student leaders about safety resources. Through our work with the University of Minnesota Rocket Team, we developed a framework for undergraduate student groups to pursue potentially dangerous activities in a safe and constructive way. We call on mentors, faculty advisers, and departments of environmental health and safety to work toward establishing similar initiatives at their institutions to ensure the safety of all undergraduate students.

Automated summary

University safety initiatives have expanded to cover all areas of chemistry, but efforts to improve safety in extracurricular student groups have been hindered by various factors. Through collaboration with the University of Minnesota Rocket Team, a framework was developed to encourage safe and constructive activities in potentially hazardous situations for undergraduate student groups.