Ten Years after the Texas Tech Accident. Part II: Changing Safety Cultures and the Current State of Academic Laboratory Safety at Texas Tech University: Changing Safety Cultures and the Current State of Academic Laboratory Safety at Texas Tech University

A serious academic laboratory accident occurred at Texas Tech University in January of 2010. As a result of internal assessment and subsequent investigations by the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), we have been working on changing the safety climate at Texas Tech University over the past decade from one of compliance to one where there is active work and thoughtfulness on the part of the administration, faculty, staff, and students to strive for improvement. In this second article of a two-part series we explore the Texas Tech accident from the perspective of the effect that it has had with regard to changing the academic safety culture of the institution. We explore how the accident acted as a galvanizing experience for the transformation of the safety culture at Texas Tech and in other parts of academia, with a look at the current state of laboratory safety at Texas Tech and how that culture functions today. We will do this in a narrative format through the eyes of the faculty, administrators, and investigators who have been principally involved in the cultural development.