From September 7 to 11, 2026, the College of Materials Science and Engineering at Shenzhen University conducted a series of continuous activities focused on laboratory safety. The College successively carried out laboratory safety education for 2026 undergraduate freshmen and graduate freshmen, convened the 2026 Annual Laboratory Safety Work Meeting together with the signing of the Laboratory Safety Responsibility Agreement and safety training for newly hired faculty and staff, and organized all teachers of the Materials Teaching Experimental Center to conduct a campus-wide laboratory safety inspection at the beginning of the new semester, effectively consolidating the laboratory safety defense line.

I. Undergraduate Freshmen: Delivering the First “Safety Lesson” upon Enrollment

On the afternoon of September 7, 2026, the Materials Teaching Experimental Center conducted a special laboratory safety education activity for 220 first-year undergraduate students of the Class of 2026. Senior Experimentalist Zhao Jinlai and Teacher Wang Dagang from the Materials Teaching Experimental Center served as the main lecturers.

Teacher Zhao Jinlai delivered a lecture covering five major aspects: the importance of laboratory safety, warnings from university laboratory safety accidents, the correct use and protection of hazardous chemicals, methods for identifying safety hazards, and the standardized implementation of safety work. Combining typical recent university laboratory accident cases, he analyzed the causes and lessons of the accidents, with particular emphasis on the classified storage of chemical reagents, standardized handling, and the correct wearing of personal protective equipment. He explained one by one the storage conditions and usage specifications for different categories of hazardous chemicals, including flammable, explosive, corrosive, and toxic substances. Starting from details such as equipment status checks, ventilation system operation, fire-fighting facility allocation, electrical circuit safety, and waste disposal standards, he encouraged freshmen to develop the good habit of proactive observation and timely reporting, so that “everyone is a safety officer.”

Teacher Wang Dagang focused on laboratory safety emergency response. Combining practical scenarios from materials science experiments, he systematically taught key skills such as chemical spill handling, burn first aid, fire alarm and initial firefighting, and evacuation and escape. He introduced the locations and usage methods of laboratory safety facilities including first-aid kits, fire extinguishers, eyewash stations, and emergency showers, and required all freshmen to familiarize themselves with the emergency exits and evacuation routes of their laboratories. He emphasized that “prevention first, combining prevention with elimination” is the basic principle of laboratory safety work, and that every student entering the laboratory should firmly keep safety emergency knowledge in mind.

II. Graduate Freshmen: Turning Safety into a Research Instinct

On September 11, the College conducted enrollment safety education for 2026 graduate freshmen. Deputy Director Wang Dagang of the Materials Teaching Experimental Center served as the main lecturer, with all 2026 graduate freshmen participating.

With the theme “Safety is no small matter; life is greater than heaven,” Wang Dagang combined real accident cases such as explosions and hydrofluoric acid burns that occurred in laboratories of multiple domestic universities in recent years, using “bloody numbers” to sound the safety alarm. He deeply analyzed the commonalities behind the accidents—violations, luck-taking, and lack of contingency plans—and put forward the safety formula “100 − 1 = 0,” emphasizing that any single negligence can nullify the efforts of a hundred experiments.

The training was structured around five modules: safety situation, hazard identification, personal protection, emergency response, and access system. It provided detailed explanations of chemical SDS (Safety Data Sheets), water, electricity and fire safety, personal protective equipment (PPE) wearing standards, as well as practical skills such as the “golden 15 minutes” flushing method for chemical burns and electric shock first aid. Wang Dagang stressed that safety is both a responsibility and a right. All freshmen must thoroughly memorize the laboratory “Ten Prohibitions,” strictly pass the training examination, and sign the safety responsibility agreement before obtaining experimental access. This safety education made the freshmen deeply realize that every “must” in the regulations is paid for with blood. The College requires freshmen to turn safety into a research instinct and jointly create a laboratory atmosphere of “everyone talks about safety, and everyone knows emergency response,” safeguarding their future research journey.

III. Consolidating Responsibility: 2026 Annual Laboratory Safety Work Meeting Held

From 12:30 to 13:30 on September 8, the 2026 Annual Laboratory Safety Work Meeting of the College of Materials Science and Engineering was held in the first-floor lecture hall of the College of Chemistry and Environmental Engineering (Shouxin Building). The meeting focused on the signing of the Laboratory Safety Responsibility Agreement and safety training for newly hired faculty and staff.

Secretary Chen Junchi and Vice Dean Zhu Deliang delivered speeches. Director Ao Weiqin interpreted the duties of laboratory safety responsible persons and related contents of the safety responsibility agreement. Laboratory safety responsible person representatives Professor Liu Bin and Teacher Chang Chengshuai shared laboratory management experience. Secretary Chen Junchi and the laboratory safety responsible person representatives signed the Laboratory Safety Responsibility Agreement on site. Deputy Director Wang Dagang interpreted the Laboratory Safety Inspection Scoring Standards of the College of Materials Science and Engineering. The meeting also conducted special laboratory safety training for teachers, full-time researchers, and postdoctoral fellows who joined since September 2025. According to the College’s annual work arrangement, the laboratory safety responsibility agreement is signed once a year, further implementing the primary responsibility for laboratory safety and strengthening the safety awareness of all staff.

IV. Promoting Improvement through Inspection: Beginning-of-Semester Campus-wide Laboratory Safety Inspection Conducted

On September 10, all teachers of the Materials Teaching Experimental Center carried out the beginning-of-semester campus-wide laboratory safety inspection. The inspection focused on the implementation of laboratory safety responsibilities, hazardous chemical management, instrument and equipment operation, fire and emergency facilities, electrical circuit safety, emergency passages, and waste disposal, aiming to promptly identify safety hazards, urge rectification and implementation, and ensure the safe and orderly conduct of experimental teaching and scientific research in the new semester.

This series of laboratory safety activities is an important part of the College of Materials Science and Engineering’s freshman enrollment education and faculty/staff safety training at Shenzhen University. The College will continue to improve the long-term mechanism of safety education and, through multiple measures such as regular safety training, emergency drills, and hazard investigation, effectively safeguard the personal safety of teachers and students as well as campus harmony and stability, providing a solid guarantee for cultivating high-quality materials science talents.

Materials Teaching Experimental Center
September 14, 2026

Authors: Huang Chenglang, Wang Dagang; Reviewed by: Ao Weiqin, Zhu Deliang, Chen Junchi