Laboratory safety might not seem, at first, to be very profoundly related to scientific knowledge. Of course safety is a relatively trivial issue in many scientific settings, especially in comparison to the kind of safety concerns found, say, at a construction site or a chemical plant. However, as scientific work has come to involve more exotic chemicals, biological organisms, and forms of radiation, and generally become more industrial in character, safety has become more of a concern. This has occurred alongside a general expansion of government regulation of workplace safety during the 20thc entury, and a recent trend toward extending work lace safety efforts to new kinds of work, including administrative and professional tasks. As a result of these trends, scientists find that they are increasingly being held responsible for following safety regulations in their re{approx}ear
