Since 1991, the Occupational and Safety Health Administration of the federal government (as well as the Ohio OSHA) has required that companies that conduct "lab-scale" chemistry have a safety plan in effect (the Chemical Hygiene Plan, CHP) and that local lab safety issues be overseen by a Chemical Hygiene Officer (CHO).  I was designated as the CHO at Wittenberg in 1995.

The Academic Laboratory Safety homepage has the CHP and many other useful safety links.

In 1999 I took an exam that allowed me to be designated as a Nationally Registered Chemical Hygiene Officer.  This is not really such a big deal for anyone with a modest background in chemistry.  I would guess that most chemistry majors at Wittenberg could probably pass the exam upon graduation, or at least after studying some documents related to lab safety for about a day.  The exam is sponsored by the National Registry in Clinical Chemistry.