Increasing Accessibility while Reducing Hazards in Laboratories

Laboratory environments are foundational to chemical innovation, yet they have been designed with implicit assumptions that exclude disabled scientists and technicians while perpetuating unnecessary hazards for everyone. This session addresses a critical blind spot in how we approach both green chemistry and worker safety: accessibility is not separate from sustainability it is integral to it. We will reframe green chemistry and engineering as a systems-level commitment that includes worker wellbeing, disability justice, and inclusive design. Our session catalyzes a fundamental shift in how industries and institutions approach laboratory design and chemical processes. By integrating accessibility from the start, rather than adding accommodations retroactively, organizations unlock innovation in workflow efficiency, chemical selection, and protocol design. This is academic and industrial transformation rooted in inclusive thinking. By redesigning laboratory infrastructure to include all scientists, we build systems that are simultaneously more resilient, adaptable, and sustainable. Accessibility-driven laboratory redesign directly supports hazard reduction. Adaptive equipment, simplified syntheses, and clearer labeling reduce chemical exposure for all laboratory users. Accessible and inclusive laboratories are inherently more sustainable. Simplified procedures reduce chemical waste; clearer workflows minimize errors and exposure; real-time monitoring systems serve as accessible tools and promote pollution prevention. When we design for accessibility, we design for lower inherent hazards across the board. Responsible innovation requires centering the needs and voices of those most affected by chemical hazards including disabled workers, who often face compounded exposure risks. Disabled scientists and technicians are often excluded from laboratory work due to inaccessible design and unnecessary hazards representing both a safety failure and a talent loss. This session demonstrates how inclusive laboratory design simultaneously advances worker safety for everyone. Safer, more accessible laboratories also produce safer chemical products, since they are built on principles of inherent safety and hazard reduction. Chemical hazards disproportionately impact workers in manufacturing, agriculture, and waste management communities already facing environmental justice challenges. By advancing green chemistry through an accessibility and equity lens, we extend worker protections to disabled workers and marginalized communities. Inclusive laboratory design practices that reduce chemical pollution at the source, protecting both laboratory workers and surrounding communities. This panel and its companion presentations fill a critical gap: bringing together accessibility practitioners, disabled scientists, green chemists, and industrial leaders to demonstrate that accessible, sustainable, and safe laboratories are not competing goals they are mutually reinforcing. By showcasing real-world case studies of integrated approaches, we provide a blueprint for industrial transformation grounded in responsible innovation, systems thinking, and equity. Sustainability is only authentic when it includes all people and honors worker dignity.

Hanno Erythropel, Ph.D., Yale University

Lars Ratjen

Paul Anastas, Yale University

Peter Licence, The University of Nottingham

Hanno Erythropel, Ph.D., Yale University

Lars Ratjen

Paul Anastas, Yale University

Peter Licence, The University of Nottingham