Determination of University Students’ Laboratory Safety Awareness: A Cross-Sectional Study

Based on four types of laboratory safety questions (chemical, biological, physical, and medical), a cross-sectional survey of students at Kunming University of Science and Technology (China) was carried out to determine the awareness of laboratory safety among university students. The survey was completed by 335 students in total, with a response rate of 95.71%. GHS pictograms, attitudes toward lab safety, practices for lab safety, and emergency equipment and procedures were all covered in the survey. The survey’s findings showed that 63.58% of students did not have an excellent awareness of laboratory safety. With mean scores of 2.56 and 2.20, respectively, the student’s ability to identify GHS pictograms and laboratory emergencies was poor. In addition, close to 5% of students maintained a negative attitude toward laboratory safety, and a small number of students (1.79–6.27%) reported never having complied with any of the measures in the questionnaire regarding laboratory safety practices. Comparative analysis revealed statistically significant relationships between different majors, whether they had experienced laboratory safety training and some survey questions (p < 0.05), and further identified factors and odds ratio values (5.382–8.037) that influence students’ awareness of laboratory safety. Based on the results of the research, specific recommendations for instructors, university administrators, and the government are also given to improve university students’ awareness of laboratory safety.