Chuckling their way to a safer lab

Photo: Reidar Hahn, Fermilab

Chuckling their way to a safer lab

There are many ways to deliver a clever play on words: deliberately with a nudge, coyly with a wink, or tossed nonchalantly into a conversation to trigger a delayed laugh—or a groan.

Alternatively, you can print it on a sign and post it by the entrance to a national laboratory.

After a study found that most injuries at Fermilab were caused by lapses of attention, the committee in charge of safety signs put out a lab-wide call for snappy slogans. "We received hundreds in the span of two or three weeks," says committee member Tim Miller. Twenty of the slogans have been used so far, with the messages changing every week.

Some favorites:

• Many quantum worlds. Be safe in this one.
• CP violation is fine. Safety violation is not.
• Make safety the extra dimension in your work.
• Drive carefully—leave collisions to the accelerator.
• Don't be a weak force when it comes to safety.

When the signs are funny and changed often, "everyone looks forward to reading them," lab Director Pier Oddone says. "At least I do!"

Kathryn Grim