Researchers in the Biological Labs and the Medical School wear protective clothing daily to safeguard themselves from radiation. Clerical workers use computers for several hours each day, risking cancer and infertility caused by VDT terminals. Many employees in Widener library have to spend time shelving books in the stacks, where there is virtually no ventilation. In addition, asbestos, which can cause cancer if inhaled, has been found in virtually every Harvard building.

For some Harvard employees, working for the University brings with it not only a paycheck but also serious health hazards.

Harvard must comply with federal safety regulations established by the Office of Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and the University's Environmental Health and Safety Office (EHS) is responsible for making sure that these rules are met.

"We certainly do all we can to abide by those [OSHA regulations]," says Thomas E. Vautin, Harvard's administrative director of operations. "From what I've seen, the system is pretty responsive."

But many employees of the University disagree. They believe that Harvard is more concerned with meeting the bare minimum of OSHA regulations than with answering worker complaints. While EHS has a good reputation among staff members, employees contend that Harvard's budget priorities keep EHS from doing its job as effectively as it should. Furthermore, employees say that many supervisors in the University laboratories take a "cavalier" attitude towards worker safety.

Safety is perennially a concern for Harvard employees, but it recently came to the fore when the Harvard Union of Clerical and Technical Workers (HUCTW) effectively used the issue in its campaign to unionize Harvard's support staff.

University officials "are concerned about limiting their own liability," says Kris Rondeau, director of HUCTW. "I think Harvard tries to downplay the issue of health and safety in the workplace, they do what they have to do and then they go away."

HUCTW organizers point to a series of recent episodes as evidence:

Last year, Harvard decided to remove asbestos from only one floor of William James Hall rather than the whole building. Administrators say that the asbestos--which is found above every ceiling in the 15-story building--does not pose a health hazard, provided employees do not lift the ceiling panels. But a number of building occupants remain concerned.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) several years ago shut down several labs in the School of Public Health and at the Biochemistry Laboratories for failing to comply with NRC safety standards.

Harvard, through EHS and Facilities Maintenance, monitors safety in campus worksites and responds to employee complaints. EHS officials conduct regular inspections of the labs and provide various services designed to ensure safe working conditions.

"They [the EHS people] do a very good job of checking the labs, but I'm not sure it's enough," says a former lab technician, who requested anonymity.

Employees say they genuinely appreciate EHS' efforts to promote safety in the workplace, but many of them add that the University does not provide EHS with enough resources to do its job effectively.

"I think people who work there [at EHS] are sympathetic to the concerns of people who work at Harvard," says a former employee, who asked not to be identified. However, he adds that many University employees "have been frustrated by the fact that that department [EHS] was a pretty low priority, that its hands were tied" by the University.

Morever, critics say that the University does not provide enough information to employees on EHS' services. For example, EHS provides a service by which employees who use VDT terminals can have their machines inspected for safety, but many say that such a service is not publicized enough to make a substantial difference.