Lessons from Fireworks Accidents for Science Education: Channel the Bang
Boom Goes the Data: The 2024 Fireworks Injury Surge From 2008 to 2023, emergency room visits from fireworks-related injuries were steadily climbing upward, increasing by an average of 550 each year.* But in 2024, things went boom: injuries spiked by 5,000. That year...
Lab Safety Q&A: Fire Hazards Edition
Fire in the lab! What to do? Welcome to the Safety Q & A series, fire edition: the Laboratory Safety Institute's answers to your most burning questions. Q1: What if the fire is small and contained? Do you always need a fire extinguisher? If the fire is...
Navigating the Safety Squeeze: How Research Labs Can Stay Safe Under Budget Pressure
The U.S. research ecosystem is facing a new kind of stress test: less funding, more expectations. From federal laboratories to university research centers, institutions are being asked to do more with less. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) proposed a...
The Whoosh Bottle Experiment – Why Do Dangerous Demonstrations Persist in Science Education?
Science demonstrations are meant to engage, inspire, and educate. However, some of the most dramatic and attention-grabbing experiments also pose significant risks. One such example is the Whoosh Bottle experiment—a demonstration that involves igniting alcohol vapors...
Safer Science Weekly: From Lab Mishaps to Superheroes – How Science Accidents Became a Theatrical Trope
Whether it’s Peter Parker being bitten by a radioactive spider or Bruce Banner’s fateful gamma radiation experiment, science accidents have long been a driving force in popular fiction. But these stories are not new—using a science mishap as a plot device to inspire...
Creating Safer Science Classrooms: Meeting the Needs of K-12 STEM Teachers and Administrators
In today’s rapidly evolving STEM fields, the need for safe and effective science education environments has never been greater. K-12 science classrooms face the challenge of managing complex safety requirements to protect both students and staff. Unfortunately,...
Are Today’s Science Kits Safer? Let’s Talk About the Fallout
Would you buy your child a gift that comes with uranium ore and a Geiger counter? It might sound absurd today, but in post-WWII America, the Gilbert U-238 Atomic Energy Lab was seen as the pinnacle of educational toys. Marketed as a way to inspire budding nuclear...
From Goose Poop to Groundbreaking Science: Why Safety Must Always Be Part of the Story
Science headlines don’t get much better than this: “Middle School Student Scientists Discover Cancer-Fighting Compound in Goose Poop.” It’s the kind of story that grabs your attention—a little weird, a little wonderful, and deeply inspiring. How amazing is it that a...
Preparing Your Laboratory for a Hurricane: Expert Advice and Lessons from Disasters
Laboratories are spaces of precision, where experiments, research, and breakthroughs happen in controlled environments. But when a natural disaster like a hurricane strikes, control can be lost in an instant. Preparing your laboratory for a hurricane is essential not...
Is Your Lab Safety Training — Safe?
Screenshots from the Boston Department of Fire Services. Two demonstrators produce a dangerous explosion during a police safety training. According to a September 26 report on Boston.com, "A small explosion during a training demonstration for Massachusetts State...