Center of SHE, safety control thousands of CU laboratory with ChemTrack & WasteTrack 2016
Safety is very important in a university laboratory. Nobody wants to accidentally get hurt or receive any dangerous chemical substance into their bodies since it may affect health in the long run. Therefore, it is necessary for students usually working in the laboratories to completely understand and realize safety in the labs before they graduate.
There are more than 1,000 laboratories at Chulalongkorn University. All have had their own safety procedures and clear processes for removing chemical and hazardous waste for more than 20 years.
During the 675th Chulalongkorn University Council Meeting on July 27, 2006, the board committee approved the Chemical and Hazardous Waste Management Development Plan and appointed two committees which included the Chemical and Hazardous Waste Working Committee of Chulalongkorn University (September 18, 2006) and the Chemical and Hazardous Waste Management Committee of Chulalongkorn University (September 28, 2006). They also assigned the Center of Excellence for Hazardous Substances and Waste Management to be the main supervising unit since the beginning of September 2006. At the same time, they also developed the chemical and hazardous waste management programs called “ChemTrack 2009” and “WasteTrach 2009,” respectively.
Later in October 2016, both programs were merged and became “ChemTrack & WasteTrack 2016”. Moreover, during the 797th Chulalongkorn University Council Meeting, the committees agreed to establish the Center for Safety, Health and Environment of Chulalongkorn University (Center of SHE) to be the center for managing safety, occupational health, and environment. The center was also officially appointed to supervise ChemTrack & WasteTrack 2016.
Furthermore, the Center of SHE later created the ChemTrack & WasteTrack 2016 manual so that it is beneficial and efficient when widely used. The manual details how to use the program according to its purpose, how to manage the data of different chemicals as well as their waste, and how to retrieve various reports. Moreover, users, students and officers, can provide feedbacks, opinions, or suggestions for improving both the program and the manual via Email: chemtrack@chula.ac.th or contact the Center for Safety, Health and Environment of Chulalongkorn University at telephone number 02-218-5213 [https://www.shecu.chula.ac.th/home/ ]
Prof. Dr. Theerayut Wilaiwan, the Director of Center for Safety, Health and Environment of Chulalongkorn University, claimed that the purpose of the center is to create a good attitude toward safety in order to promote a safety culture in Chulalongkorn University.
He also stated “Center for Safety, Health and Environment of Chulalongkorn University is the third university-level organization in Thailand that is responsible for and mainly works on laboratory safety systems. There are two different departments within the center: the academic department and the safety personnel department. The academic department is responsible for developing “Basic and General Safety ” online course. This online course is for everyone to learn about the fundamental safety rules in hopes that they will help everyone change their behaviors and develop a safety mindset. Also, it aims to reduce the chance of an accident both inside and outside the laboratory. Trained people will receive a certificate. Furthermore, there is a required course for first-year university students who are going to study and/ or work in the chemistry or biology labs. They need to pass the course in order to receive the certificate from the center via the online course. Meanwhile, there is also a course for fourth-year university students or graduate students, which can be joined at any time in the year. A course for senior or management-level safety personnel, laboratory supervisors, and laboratory technicians. On the other hand, the safety department oversees the safety in all aspects ranging from the chemicals, germs and pathogens, radiations, etc. The center is also responsible for handling the reports of incidents regarding safety in laboratories in order to analyze the causes of the incidents, formulate the methods of prevention, and send the notification to each section in the university.
BY
Center for Safety, Health and Environment, Chulalongkorn University
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