| Environmental Health & Safety

When Mizzou’s new fire marshal, Jeff Strawn, hit his six-month mark at the end of August, he wasn’t stepping into uncharted territory.

In fact, for a guy who has spent more than three decades answering calls, coming to the University of Missouri campus feels a lot like coming full circle.

Jeff Strawn sitting in his office Raised for most of his life in Columbia, Missouri, Strawn went through Columbia Public Schools. He admits that he wasn’t the best student.

“But, I did graduate,” he says, smiling.

Then came a frank talk with his dad, a U.S. Air Force Vietnam veteran. Strawn was fresh out of high school without a clear life trajectory.

“I didn’t have a lot of passion,” Strawn recalls. “My dad’s like, ‘You’ve got to figure this out. Hanging out here and doing whatever is not going to be it for you.’”

His dad suggested the military as a way to learn a trade and “get three square meals and a cot,” he says. “The rest is history and I couldn’t be more proud of the way it went.”

A military career begins

That father-son conversation launched Strawn’s 30-year military career in the U.S. Air Force, which included active duty and reserves. Early on in basic training during the 1990s, a simple questionnaire, which asked whether high heat or heights bothered him, steered him straight into fire service training.

Starting at Little Rock Air Force Base, his service took him to Anchorage, Alaska, and Abilene, Texas, exposing him to everything from wildland brush fires to the tragic, unforgettable crash of an AWACs aircraft in Alaska that killed 24 crewmembers after it collided with a flock of geese on takeoff.

“You could see the plume of smoke coming up,” he remembers of the 1995 crash. “I had just gotten off that morning, and I was still at another station. I heard the tones drop, ‘aircraft down, aircraft down.’”

Strawn and other first responders made it to the crash site by traveling down some railroad tracks into the middle of the forest.

“You never know what to expect before you get to a scene,” he says. “But of course, we got there and there just wasn’t any saving to be done.”

While military firefighting taught him high-level safety, hazmat and aircraft response, base environments were tightly controlled. Eager to get more hands-on structural firefighting experience, Strawn transitioned to the U.S. Air Force Reserves in 1997 at Whiteman Air Force Base in Johnson County, Missouri.

That move allowed him to return to his hometown, where he achieved a lifelong goal in 2000: joining the Columbia Fire Department. His hometown fire department.

It was a homecoming of sorts.

A family tradition continues

When Strawn joined the Columbia Fire Department, he was carrying on a proud family legacy.

Inside Mizzou’s General Services Building on Strawn’s office wall, hangs a black and white photo of the department from the early 1950s. His grandpa, Archie, smiles from the lower left corner.

With Strawn’s oldest son now serving the department — and even sharing a year on the force together before his retirement — the family boasts three generations of Columbia firefighters.

Over the next two decades, Strawn balanced both military and civilian duties.

On the civilian side, he worked his way through the ranks to assistant chief with the fire department. On the military side, he rose to the highest enlisted rank possible — Chief Master Sergeant (E-9) — serving as the fire chief at Whiteman for the 442nd Fighter Wing. He retired from the military in 2020 and the Columbia Fire Department in 2023.

Coming full circle to Mizzou

Strawn took a well-deserved three-year break from working to enjoy life, spending time with his three children, being outdoors and fishing for crappie across Missouri lakes.

But he realized he wasn't quite ready to stay away from the field for good.

His wife, Jessica, still has a few years left to work as a patient navigator at Ellis Fischel Cancer Center before retirement. So when the fire marshal position in Mizzou’s Environmental Health & Safety department opened last February, it was an easy decision.

While the position was historically a half-time role shared with the city, Mizzou made it a full-time position. Soon after starting his new position, Strawn’s email inbox filled up fast.

His daily work covers everything from reviewing building evacuation plans and managing crowd logistics for large campus events to coordinating game-day pyrotechnics at the football stadium alongside the state fire marshal.

"Jeff was ready to go from the first day," said EHS Director Dennis Elmore. "I had to hold him back a few times early on, but not anymore."

Strawn navigates complex safety evaluations, such as evaluating ADA accommodation requests involving lithium-ion batteries in residence halls.

Jeff Strawn talks with several MURR employees around a table

On a recent morning at the University of Missouri Research Reactor, Strawn showed about 75 employees how to put out a fire using a fire extinguisher simulator. But that training is just the beginning. He will train dozens and dozens more in the coming weeks in the Campus Facilities, Landscape Services and Energy Management departments, among others.

At his core, Strawn’s mission remains focused on everyday safety: ensuring residence hall sprinkler systems are ready, checking egress lighting and making sure everyone can safely exit a building if something goes wrong.

His advice for Mizzou students, faculty and staff?

Know your exits: Don't just rely on the main door you walked in through; know a secondary route if a hallway fills with smoke.

Locate the nearest extinguisher: Take two seconds to spot where the closest fire extinguisher is mounted in your hallway or office space before you actually need it.

Having put a daughter through Mizzou himself, Strawn — a proud grandfather of 4-year-old Brooks — views campus not just as a workplace, but as a community he's honored to protect.

“I want to improve upon the health and safety aspects within the buildings,” Strawn says. “Beyond that, I want to tap into the resources we have here and try to educate employees and those that work on campus about things to watch out for, things to keep in mind.

“I’m really trying to educate people.”

Learn more about Fire Safety and Prevention on the EHS website.

Imagine this: An emergency happens in a lab late at night when no one is around. Responders hurry to the scene. But they are not sure about the research taking place in the lab. And they don’t know the ins and outs of the equipment, materials or potential hazards in the space.

Getting in touch with the right person quickly can help protect years of research and prevent the loss of valuable samples, ongoing experiments or specialized equipment that may be difficult, costly or even impossible to replace.

If you are responsible for a campus lab, it’s imperative that you take a few minutes to verify your laboratory’s emergency contacts. In an emergency, that small action could help protect responders and preserve years of research.

It’s important to remember that the responder may not always be the fire department. Campus Facilities staff are often called for floods, water leaks, freezer alarms, electrical problems and ventilation failures. These events can quickly threaten laboratory safety, critical equipment and research materials.

Because incidents can occur at night, on weekends or during campus closures, an office telephone number may not be enough. Laboratory hazard communication signage should include an after-hours contact number — typically a cellphone number — for a knowledgeable person who can be reached when needed.

A recent research laboratory fire illustrates the importance of current contact information. The fire began in an electrophoresis machine following a minor power interruption. Because brief power interruptions are relatively common and can cause equipment to shut down, restart unexpectedly or malfunction, laboratories should check critical equipment afterward — particularly -80°C freezers, environmental chambers, incubators and other continuously operating systems.

Your hazard communication sign is the connection

Mizzou laboratory hazard communication signs identify the potential chemical, biological, radiological and physical hazards within a space. They also provide emergency contact information that connects firefighters, Campus Facilities employees and other response personnel with someone who understands what is hazardous, time-sensitive or irreplaceable.

A knowledgeable laboratory contact also can help responders determine whether critical samples or experiments are at risk, whether utilities can be safely shut down and whether equipment requires special handling. Timely information can protect responders while helping them minimize damage to research when conditions allow.

Take action today

Principal investigators, laboratory managers and lab workers should review the hazard communication signs posted at every entrance to their research spaces. Please confirm that:

Primary and alternate contacts are current.

At least one cellphone number can be reached after hours.

The listed contacts understand the laboratory’s hazards, equipment and critical research operations.

The hazards and required personal protective equipment shown on the sign are accurate.

Update and reprint the sign whenever contacts, telephone numbers, hazards, equipment or laboratory operations change.

Visit the Mizzou Environmental Health & Safety Hazard Communication Signs webpage for instructions on reviewing, updating, printing and posting laboratory signs. Questions may be directed to labsafety@missouri.edu.

The Environmental Health & Safety 2025 Annual Report highlights the work the EHS team is doing to support Mizzou.

"Our mission is simple," said EHS Director Dennis Elmore. "Provide practical, reliable service to our customers. When we help customers meet their obligations while minimizing costs and disruption, we are doing our best work. While we think of ourselves as a service unit first, we also lead on matters related to safety, compliance and risk management. ...

"I invite you to explore this annual report to see how our programs, initiatives and people are making an impact. Together, we will continue to advance safety, sustainability and excellence at Mizzou."

Read the EHS 2025 Annual Report.

At the University of Missouri, groundbreaking research happens every day. And behind many of these discoveries is a strong commitment to safety, sustainability and smart laboratory management. One example can be found in the lab of Kiruba Krishnaswamy, associate professor in the College of Engineering and the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources.

Krishnaswamy leads the Food Engineering and Sustainable Technologies (FEAST) Lab, where students study engineering, food science and human health challenges.

Kiruba Krishnaswamy in her lab coat and gloves

Her interest in food science began long before she entered a research laboratory. As a child in India, Krishnaswamy visited a chocolate factory and became fascinated.

“I wanted to see how chocolate was made,” Krishnaswamy said. “I have always been a foodie, and that curiosity about food stayed with me.”

Her childhood curiosity developed into a professional calling during her undergraduate studies, when she participated in an international research program focused on food and nutrition security. The experience helped her see how engineering could be used to address meaningful societal challenges.

“That experience showed me that you can use engineering principles to solve real-life problems,” she said. “I realized that I loved science and engineering, but I also loved the social purpose behind the work.”

That realization took Krishnaswamy from India to Canada and eventually to the United States. Today, she gives students in the FEAST Lab opportunities to make similar connections between scientific discovery and real-world impact.

“Our lab brings together students from different disciplines because the problems we are trying to solve sit at the intersection of all of them,” she said. “We need young minds thinking together about how to solve these problems.”

Housekeeping excellence supports safe science

Equally impressive is the FEAST Lab’s commitment to housekeeping and workspace organization. The lab stands out for its clean benches, organized storage areas, clearly defined work zones and uncluttered pathways that help promote both safety and productivity.

Rather than relying on occasional cleanings, the research team maintains a weekly chore list with assigned routine responsibilities. This proactive approach keeps the facility in pristine condition.

Laboratory problems that are common elsewhere, such as overcrowded benches, unmanaged waste, broken glass, unlabeled materials and blocked work areas, are absent in the FEAST Lab. Researchers applaud the lab for being a professional environment where they can focus on high-quality, repeatable science.

Students recognize the value of that structure in their daily work.

“It’s so easy to start an experiment and know where everything is,” one student shared during the visit. “We have everything labeled.”

Dr. Kiruba and several of her students hold up a sign showing their lab cleaning schedule

Smart resource use

A strong inventory management system and good housekeeping also support the FEAST Lab’s broader sustainability mission. By knowing what materials are already available, the team minimizes unnecessary purchases, reduces waste and makes better use of existing resources.

The lab also benefits from chemical redistribution resources coordinated through Mizzou Environmental Health & Safety (EHS).

“When we started the lab, we had limited resources,” Krishnaswamy said. “We turned to the available resources through EHS, and an entire research project was built using glassware and chemicals obtained through the chemical redistribution program. That project ultimately led to a published paper.”

Teaching the next generation

The FEAST Lab serves as a training ground for future scientists and engineers. Students learn that successful research depends not only on technical knowledge, but also on organization, accountability, hazard awareness and responsible stewardship of laboratory resources.

The sound habits students build through the lab will benefit them throughout their careers.

Dr. Kiruba and a student hold up small containers in a lab

Driving great discoveries

Krishnaswamy’s research is helping address major global food systems challenges, but behind that innovation is a laboratory culture built on planning, teamwork and strong operational systems.

The FEAST Lab demonstrates that chemical inventory management and outstanding housekeeping are cornerstones of safe, efficient and sustainable research excellence.

“Laboratories like the FEAST Lab make us proud because they exemplify the principles of safe science,” said Chris Pearman, assistant director of Environmental Health & Safety. “Their commitment to organization, accountability and responsible stewardship demonstrates that safety and sustainability are not barriers to discovery. They are essential to research excellence.”

Learn more about Laboratory Safety and download a Laboratory Housekeeping Poster or Lab Safety Posters.

EHS Staff utilizing the camera display

Article by Chris Pearman

Environmental Health & Safety recently outfitted several hazardous waste pickup vehicles with 360-degree camera systems to improve driver awareness and reduce risk during campus service operations. This investment strengthens the safety of a critical service that supports Mizzou’s research, teaching and campus operations.

Hazardous waste pickup is an essential behind-the-scenes service that directly supports the university’s research and academic mission. Each week, EHS staff collect regulated waste from research laboratories, teaching labs, clinical areas and other campus operations so that faculty, staff and students can continue their work safely and efficiently. Timely waste removal helps laboratories maintain safe workspaces, prevent the accumulation of unwanted chemicals, support regulatory compliance and remain focused on discovery, innovation and education.

Because this work occurs across a large and active campus, EHS hazardous waste vehicles must often maneuver through tight service areas, loading docks, parking lots, sidewalks and building access points while pedestrians, cyclists, scooters, delivery vehicles and campus traffic are nearby. This creates an especially hazardous operating environment. Unlike many fleet operations that primarily travel on public roads, campus service vehicles frequently move through areas with high pedestrian density, unpredictable foot traffic, distracted walkers and limited separation between vehicles and people.

The risk is even greater when vehicles must back up, turn around or position near building entrances and loading docks. In these situations, even a small blind spot can create a serious hazard.

driver camera display showing 4 views

The new camera systems provide drivers with a broader view around the vehicle, helping them identify pedestrians, cyclists, scooters, parked vehicles, curbs, bollards, loading dock edges and building features before moving. The four camera views supplement mirrors and direct observation, giving drivers another tool to make safer decisions in crowded or confined areas.

For the research community, this technology helps protect both people and continuity of service. A vehicle incident involving hazardous waste could delay pickups, interrupt access to a research building or loading dock, damage shared infrastructure, remove a service vehicle from operation or create a hazardous material response situation.

From a risk management perspective, this improvement supports injury prevention, environmental protection and responsible stewardship of university resources. These vehicles are not simply transporting routine materials—they are moving regulated hazardous waste generated through research, instruction and campus operations. Preventing vehicle incidents also reduces the potential for spills, container damage, property damage, emergency response costs and operational downtime.

EHS technicians loading drums

The vehicle cameras are one component of a broader hazardous waste management process. EHS staff evaluate waste requests, coordinate pickups, handle and secure containers, transport materials and prepare them for proper disposal. Each step is designed to protect employees, the campus community and the environment while supporting the university’s research and instructional activities.

The investment reflects EHS’s commitment to reliable customer service and continuous improvement. Researchers rely on EHS to remove hazardous waste safely, efficiently and professionally. Camera-equipped vehicles demonstrate that EHS is applying the same prevention-focused approach in its own operations that we encourage throughout Mizzou’s laboratories: recognize the hazard, reduce the risk and prevent incidents before they happen.

At Mizzou, safety is a shared responsibility—and sometimes improving safety starts with seeing the work from every angle.

Article by Chris Pearman

As warmer weather arrives, shorts, sandals, tank tops, and other warm-weather clothing become more common across campus. While these clothing choices may be comfortable outdoors, they are not appropriate in laboratory spaces where chemical, biological, physical, or other research hazards may be present. Environmental Health & Safety reminds all laboratory workers, students, visitors, and research groups that seasonal clothing changes do not change laboratory PPE and attire expectations.

Why Lab Attire Matters

Laboratory attire is an important part of personal protective equipment compliance and laboratory safety. Exposed skin below the waist, open-toed or open-heeled shoes, and sleeveless shirts can increase the risk of injury from spills, splashes, broken glass, sharps, contaminated surfaces, dropped materials, heat sources, or other laboratory hazards.

Minimum Attire Expectations

At a minimum, individuals entering laboratory areas where hazards are present should wear full-length pants or equivalent leg coverage, closed-toe and closed-heel shoes, and clothing that provides appropriate coverage for the work being performed. Lab coats, protective eyewear, gloves, and other required PPE must also be used when working with, or around, hazardous materials or processes.

Lab coats, protective eyewear, gloves, and other required PPE must also be used when working with hazardous materials or processes.

Plan Ahead and Use Available Resources

EHS encourages research groups to plan ahead as campus transitions into the warmer months. If students, staff, or researchers may need to enter a lab later in the day, they should bring appropriate lab attire or keep dedicated lab clothing available. Principal investigators and lab supervisors are also encouraged to discuss expectations with their teams, especially with new students, summer researchers, visiting scholars, and temporary personnel who may be less familiar with laboratory dress requirements.

To help reinforce these expectations, EHS has developed a PPE Compliance Guide that laboratories can post in visible areas near entrances, work spaces, or common areas. The poster provides a quick visual reminder of appropriate laboratory attire and PPE expectations, including proper clothing, footwear, eye protection, and lab coat use. Posting this reminder can help research groups communicate expectations before someone enters the lab and support a consistent safety culture across campus.

Appropriate PPE and lab attire are simple but important ways to reduce risk. As the weather warms up, please take a moment to review your lab’s expectations, remind your team of minimum PPE requirements, and use the EHS PPE Compliance Guide as a practical tool to support daily compliance.

For questions about laboratory PPE, appropriate lab attire, or posting PPE expectations in your research space, contact Environmental Health & Safety at (573) 882-7018.

When researchers think about waste management, it is often viewed as a regulatory requirement—or something handled only after an experiment is complete. In reality, how a laboratory manages waste has a direct and measurable impact on research costs, operational efficiency, and long-term sustainability.

At the University of Missouri, Environmental Health & Safety works closely with research teams to help laboratories reduce hazardous waste volumes, avoid unnecessary disposal costs, and make smarter purchasing decisions—all while maintaining compliance and safety.

Disposal Costs: Not All Waste Is Equal

One of the biggest misconceptions in research laboratories is that waste disposal costs are flat or insignificant. In reality, hazardous waste disposal can cost several times more than properly managed non-hazardous or segregated waste streams. When materials are mismanaged, disposal expenses rise quickly.

Common examples of avoidable cost drivers include:

Treating non-hazardous materials as hazardous “just in case”
Mixing incompatible or unnecessary materials into the same waste container
Combining clean recyclables or reusable materials with contaminated waste
Disposing of unopened or usable chemicals that could have been shared or redistributed

Proper waste characterization and segregation—something EHS routinely assists with—can significantly reduce disposal fees without creating extra work for laboratory staff.

The Chemical Redistribution Program: Turning Surplus into Savings

One of the most effective waste-reduction tools available to campus researchers is the University’s Chemical Redistribution Program managed by Environmental Health & Safety.

Through this program, usable surplus chemicals from laboratories are evaluated and made available for reuse by other campus research groups at no cost. Instead of paying to dispose of unopened or high-quality materials, those chemicals can be matched with another laboratory that has an immediate need.

The program creates measurable value by:

Reducing hazardous waste disposal costs
Lowering chemical purchasing expenses for research groups
Shortening lead times when common materials are already available on campus
Supporting sustainability goals through reuse
Freeing storage space in laboratories

In many cases, one lab’s surplus becomes another lab’s solution.

Reducing Hazardous Waste Volume at the Source

The most effective way to save money on waste disposal is to generate less hazardous waste in the first place. Small changes in daily laboratory practices can add up quickly across a research group or department.

Strategies EHS often recommends include:

Using microscale or reduced-volume protocols when feasible
Avoiding over-preparation of reagents that may expire or go unused
Keeping waste streams clean by preventing cross-contamination
Regularly reviewing chemical inventories to identify aging, duplicate, or unneeded materials
Moving usable materials through the Chemical Redistribution Program before they become waste

Less hazardous waste means lower disposal costs, fewer pickups, reduced storage demands, and less administrative burden—all of which help research dollars go further.

Smart Purchasing: The Hidden Cost Saver

Purchasing decisions often determine future waste costs long before a chemical ever enters the lab. Buying more than needed—or buying without considering shelf life—can mean paying twice: once for the product and again for disposal.

EHS encourages laboratories to:

Purchase quantities that realistically match project timelines
Check existing inventories and redistribution listings before placing new orders
Coordinate purchases within research groups to reduce duplication
Consider safer or lower-cost disposal alternatives when scientifically appropriate
Select right-sized containers that better match actual usage

These practices reduce waste, improve storage capacity, and make budgets stretch further.

Inventory Accuracy Matters

Maintaining an accurate chemical inventory is another often-overlooked cost control measure. Laboratories that routinely verify and reconcile their inventories are better able to identify aging materials, duplicates, and chemicals no longer needed for active research.

Accurate inventories help laboratories:

Avoid unnecessary purchases
Reduce expired chemical disposal costs
Improve emergency planning and hazard communication
Save time when locating needed materials
Identify items suitable for redistribution
Maintain stronger regulatory compliance

EHS as a Research Support Partner

EHS’s role goes beyond compliance—we work with researchers to identify practical, research-friendly solutions that protect people, projects, and budgets.

From waste evaluations and laboratory consultations to purchasing guidance, chemical redistribution, and training, EHS is here to help research teams operate efficiently and sustainably.

If your laboratory has questions about waste management practices, disposal costs, or opportunities to reduce waste, Environmental Health & Safety is always available to assist.

Smarter waste management is not just good for safety and the environment—it is good for research.

Recognizing Excellence in Laboratory Safety

The Safety MVP Award celebrates individuals who go above and beyond in fostering a culture of safety within their research environments. This year's honorees, Wing-Cheung Lai and Anand Soorneedi, represent two distinct corners of the research world—one a staff scientist with twenty-five years of institutional memory, the other a virology researcher bringing federal safety standards to the university. Yet both share a common commitment: treating safety not as a checklist, but as a shared responsibility.

Wing Lai: The Institutional Anchor

When asked about the nature of his work, Wing-Cheung Lai explains that his research focuses on the study of protein translocation, using biophysical methods and cryo-EM to deduce structures and functions. This involves working with Legionella pneumophila, the bacterium responsible for a severe form of pneumonia and studying its T4 secretion system—the mechanism it uses to infect human cells.

As Clarissa Durie noted in her nomination, Lai is a staff scientist in the Durie lab in Biochemistry who was recently recognized for 25 years with the university. Most of that time, he worked with the Hazelbauer and Randall labs. As they retired, he transitioned to Durie's new lab and has supported its start-up period, including training every new member in the safe operation of equipment and best practices, including BSL2 protocols. Durie describes him as "a valued member of the department and a go-to resource for institutional knowledge."

Safety, Lai notes, is integrated into his daily routine from the moment he enters the lab. "Good lab safety is proper science," he says. "Contamination of bacteria is prevented by good housekeeping and proper labeling. It's about maintaining control over your work."

The most common practices in his lab reflect this constant vigilance. "Wearing PPE is for everyone in the space, every day—including those only using equipment for a short while," Lai states. "Key elements are clear signage, easy access to Safety Data Sheets, a maintained chemical inventory, and accessible areas for handling chemicals and biohazardous materials, with cleaning supplies readily available."

Beyond his own research, Lai takes an active role in enforcing these standards. "I go on 'patrol' to make sure lab workers and others are using proper PPE," he comments. He emphasizes that something as simple as a lab coat serves a dual purpose: protecting the researcher while also requiring proper care. "We must disinfect our lab coats because of our handling of bacteria."

Finally, he offers a crucial insight for anyone looking to improve their own safety practices. "It is important to build good habits," Lai adds. "Those will last a long time."

Anand Soorneedi: The Culture Carrier

Anand Soorneedi works in a virology lab, handling high-consequence pathogens at the BSL-3 level. His research focuses on developing tools to combat emerging threats like the Heartland virus—a tick-borne virus discovered in Missouri—and Severe Fever with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome Virus (SFTSV).

In his nomination, Soorneedi articulated a philosophy that sets him apart. "I consistently treat safety as a shared responsibility, not a checklist item," he wrote. "I quietly notice what others miss—an unsecured gas cylinder, missing secondary containment, an outdated SOP—and fix it or raise it immediately, without blame or drama. What sets me apart is how I model safety culture by example: I stop my own experiments to help someone don proper PPE, help build safer workflows into protocols from the start instead of adding them as an afterthought, and I communicate clearly and respectfully across all levels of the lab. In doing so, I don't just follow our safety expectations—I elevate them and make it easier for everyone around me to work safely every day."

When asked how safety plays a role in his daily routine, Soorneedi's answer is direct. "Extremely important, especially at the BSL-3 level," he says. "We work with infectious viral agents, so safety is our number one priority—and not just for me, but for everyone in the lab. Everyone has to play their part because of the nature of our work."

The most common practices in his lab reflect the seriousness of the materials they handle. "Everything we work with is at least BSL-2 level, so at minimum we are wearing lab coats, eye protection, and sometimes masks," he explains. "We use fume hoods when working with volatile materials, and when we are working at the BSL-3 level, we wear PAPRs and Tyvek suits that help protect us."

Soorneedi brings a unique perspective to his role, shaped by experience at the federal level. "I worked for the NIH before I started working for Mizzou," he shares, "and the NIH and the CDC are the entities that dictate the rules of safety, so I gained a lot of experience in safety lab culture."

His final message echoes the collaborative spirit that defines his approach. "Lab safety is a team effort," Soorneedi adds, "and everyone should help with the heavy lifting."

Building a Culture That Lasts

Together, Lai and Soorneedi represent two generations of safety leadership—one rooted in decades of institutional knowledge and habit-building, the other shaped by federal standards and a commitment to shared responsibility. Both demonstrate that true safety excellence isn't found in a manual or a checklist, but in the daily choices researchers make: the patrol through the lab, the offer to help with PPE, the quiet fix of an unsecured cylinder.

As Lai puts it, "Build good habits. Those will last a long time."

Article by Colette Faiella

Article by Chris Pearman and Colette Faiella

Building a Stronger Culture of Safety

The University of Missouri recently concluded another successful Lab Safety Awareness Week, reinforcing our shared commitment to protecting people, research, and discovery. Hosted by Environmental Health & Safety (EHS) in partnership with the Office of Research, the week emphasized practical safety skills, meaningful outreach, and recognition of individuals who lead by example in our research community—all grounded in our guiding message: Safer Together.

Throughout the week, EHS staff engaged with students, faculty, staff, and the research community through hands-on outreach, informal discussions, and safety demonstrations, strengthening connections and reinforcing shared responsibility for safe research. These interactions provided valuable opportunities to answer questions, discuss real-world laboratory safety challenges, and build relationships across campus—because safety works best when we approach it together.

Hands-On Training and Educational Programming

Educational programming during the week included:

A Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) presentation from Fisher Scientific and Ansell, focused on glove selection, lab coats, and eye and face protection to help researchers make informed PPE decisions.
A Compressed Gas Safety presentation from Airgas, covering safe cylinder handling, storage, transport, and regulator use in laboratory and research environments.
Hands-on Digital Fire Extinguisher Training, which provided instruction on proper fire extinguisher selection, how to safely operate an extinguisher, and—critically—how to assess a situation and determine when it is appropriate to use an extinguisher versus when to evacuate the building and call for emergency assistance.
EHS Safety trivia designed to reinforce that safety is an everyday prevalence, and outreach activities designed to make safety approachable and engaging.

Recognizing Safety Leadership: The Safety MVP Award

A key feature of Lab Safety Awareness Week was the Safety MVP Award, which recognizes individuals who demonstrate an exceptional commitment to laboratory safety and positively influence their teams. Nominations opened during the week, allowing peers to highlight those who consistently lead by example.

Congratulations to this year’s Safety MVP Award recipients:

Anand Soorneedi
Wing Cheung Lai

Fire Extinguisher Demo & Friendly Competition

The popular Fire Extinguisher Demo added a fun and competitive element, challenging participants to apply what they learned by responding quickly and correctly in a simulated fire scenario.

Congratulations to our standout performers:

Fastest Time – $50 Mizzou Store Gift Card: Kritika Prasai
Second Fastest Time – $30 Mizzou Store Gift Card: Riti Shrestha

Prize Winners & Campus Partnerships

Additionally, EHS held a Lab Safety Awareness Week Prize Raffle. By nominating a Safety MVP or playing Safety trivia, participants were entered into a drawing for four grand prizes, and winners are as follows:

4 Mizzou Men’s Basketball Tickets: Henry Mosher
4 Mizzou Women’s Basketball Tickets: Andrew Knott
Free Parking for One Year: Mather Khan
Venture Out Experience for 8: Brendon Koester

EHS extends a special thank you to MU Parking, MU Athletics, and Mizzou Rec for generously donating prizes and helping make Lab Safety Awareness Week a success.

Safer Together

Lab Safety Awareness Week is about more than prizes or presentations—it is about visibility, partnership, and shared responsibility. By being Safer Together as a community, we continue building a strong culture of safety that supports excellence in research at Mizzou.

Article by Ahmed Elsotouhy

Peroxide-forming chemicals are common in academic research laboratories and are often used without incident for years. However, when these materials are stored too long, concentrated, or improperly disposed of, they can quietly become one of the most serious explosion hazards in the research environment. Solvents such as diethyl ether and tetrahydrofuran (THF), as well as unintentionally formed organic peroxides, can accumulate shock-sensitive compounds that pose significant risk to researchers, facilities, and operations.

A review of peroxide-related laboratory incidents at universities over the past several decades shows a clear pattern: most accidents did not occur during complex experiments, but during routine activities like laboratory clean-outs, rotary evaporation, or hazardous waste handling. In several well-documented cases, aged solvents that had not been tested for peroxides detonated when containers were opened, concentrated, or discarded. In others, peroxide residues in “empty” bottles exploded when handled as ordinary glass waste. These incidents highlight that peroxide hazards are not theoretical—they are predictable and repeatable when controls fail.

Major University Peroxide Incidents

UCSF (1995): Ten-year-old diethyl ether containers exploded during a laboratory clean-out, shattering windows.
Cause: Long-term storage and high peroxide accumulation.
UC Berkeley (2006): Unstabilized THF (>100 mg/L peroxides) detonated during rotary evaporation, injuring a student.
Cause: Concentration of peroxide crystals during near-dry evaporation.
University of Minnesota (2017): An “empty” solvent bottle containing dry peroxide crystals exploded when discarded.
Cause: Shock-sensitive peroxide residues in an untreated container.
University of Bristol (2017): Approximately 30–40 g of TATP formed unintentionally during an acetone/hydrogen peroxide reaction; a controlled detonation was required.
Cause: Unintended peroxide byproduct and insufficient hazard mitigation.
Hong Kong Laboratory (2016): Expired hydrogen peroxide decomposed violently when poured into a metal waste drum, injuring eight individuals.
Cause: Incompatible container and degraded oxidizer.

Peroxide-Forming Chemicals: What Goes Wrong—and How to Prevent It

Common Failure Modes

Long-term storage of ethers and THF
Lack of container dating or routine peroxide testing
Evaporation or distillation to near-dryness
Disposal of untreated “empty” containers
Inadequate assessment of unintended peroxide-forming reaction pathways

Prevention Essentials

Date all peroxide-forming chemicals and enforce strict expiration timelines
Test for peroxides before evaporation, distillation, or disposal
Store materials in cool, dark locations and minimize quantities on hand
Treat “empty” containers as hazardous; avoid metal containers for oxidizers
Provide regular, peroxide-specific safety training
Require PI and EHS review of aging or high-risk peroxide-forming chemicals

Root Causes and Prevention

Across institutions, common root causes emerge. Prolonged storage of peroxide-forming chemicals, lack of routine peroxide testing, underestimation of risks associated with near-dry evaporation, and improper disposal practices were present in nearly every documented incident. Importantly, these hazards were already well documented in safety literature, underscoring that the issue is not a lack of knowledge, but inconsistent application of best practices across the chemical lifecycle.

Preventing peroxide incidents starts with strong inventory management: dating containers upon receipt and opening, limiting storage time, and removing aged materials before they become dangerous. Peroxide testing should be performed before evaporation, distillation, or disposal, and “empty” containers must be treated as potentially hazardous until verified safe. Just as critical is ongoing training—for students, staff, and faculty—so that peroxide risks remain visible even when experiments become routine.

Faculty and principal investigators play a central role in this process by setting expectations for safe solvent handling, prohibiting near-dry evaporation without verification, and prioritizing laboratory clean-outs during personnel transitions or lab closures. From an EHS perspective, peroxide hazards should be explicitly addressed in inspections, waste procedures, Chemical Hygiene Plans, and safety training programs, using real incident examples to reinforce why these requirements matter.

To support these efforts, MU Environmental Health & Safety is happy to provide peroxide-forming chemical test strips to laboratories, including a starter kit with instructions for use and reordering. This service is intended to make routine peroxide testing easy, accessible, and consistent across campus.

Peroxide-forming chemical incidents are preventable when vigilance, testing, and oversight are consistently applied. By managing these materials from procurement through disposal—and by learning from past incidents—we can protect our researchers and facilities while strengthening our shared safety culture. By working Safer Together, we help ensure that innovation and discovery continue without unnecessary risk.

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