Student with protective equipment in a lab

Safety

Our Vision

The Office of Safety is dedicated to fostering a positive safety culture among all members of the College of Engineering and creating the premier safety culture at the University of California, Davis.

We fully support all faculty, staff, and students by being a source of safety and environmental guidance with the goal of finding a way that all activities within the College of Engineering can be performed safely.

Message from UC Davis Safety Services: We envision an incident-free campus where students and employees alike are educated and equipped to work safely. With support from campus safety professionals, they are empowered to take responsibility for safety at work, at home and in their communities.

Values for a Safety Culture:

  • Community Spirit
  • Collaboration
  • Adherence to Law and Policy
  • Investment
  • Continuous Improvement
  • Accountability
Students conduct experiments in Takamura's lab

2025 UC Davis Lab Safety Award Winner

The Takamura Research Lab, led by Professor of Materials Science and Engineering Yayoi Takamura, has received the 2025 Grand Prize for Lab Safety from the University of California, Davis, Safety Services. 

The Takamura Research Lab focuses on discovering new magnetic materials, exploring how their structures can be designed and controlled at the smallest scales. The team uses pulsed laser deposition, a technique that allows them to build artificial layered materials composed of stacks of materials with individual thicknesses only a few atoms thick. 

Given the hazards they work with, including X-rays, Class IV lasers, cryogens, toxic gases and reproductive toxins, strict procedures are set in place to ensure members are safe, knowledgeable and supported in the lab. Students undergo extensive initial training, contribute to the writing and revising of standard operating procedures, and participate in refreshers during group meetings. 

The College of Engineering has a dynamic program to facilitate a culture of safety.  Some of these initiatives include:

  • A Director of Safety to help drive our efforts
  • A safety culture and risk team of career staff throughout the college
  • A Faculty Safety Culture Advisory Committee
  • A Graduate Student Safety Culture Advisory Committee
  • Our safety culture and risk survey of all graduate students, faculty, and staff in the college
  • A series of monthly safety/health learning events
  • A holistic view and frame for our approaches to safety culture and risk