How Much Do You Know About Workplace Safety? Show Off!

Complete a 10-question quiz for National Safety Month in June for a chance to win a box of delicious cookies

Safety gear on a striped background

As a Research Analyst and Laboratory Manager for Duke’s Department of Ophthalmology, Penny Ferry-Leeper helps protect her lab from workplace hazards.

She conducts annual safety audits, flags concerns and creates reference materials for teammates who handle potentially hazardous chemicals and complex equipment.

“It’s essential,” Ferry-Leeper said of staying alert to safety risks in the workplace.

Last year, safety awareness came with a sweet, tasty reward. Ferry-Leeper was one of 10 staff and faculty members to win a dozen cookies for completing Duke’s annual workplace safety quiz.

Employees who complete the 10-question workplace safety quiz can be entered to win a dozen cookies from Southern Sugar Bakery. Photo courtesy of Southern Sugar Bakery.

“They were delicious,” Ferry-Leeper said

Duke staff and faculty are invited to take a 10-question workplace safety quiz throughout June, in recognition of National Safety Month, to raise awareness of common workplace risks.

Everyone who completes the quiz, organized by organized by the Worker’s Compensation office in Duke Human Resources and Duke’s Occupational & Environmental Safety Office can enter their name in a random drawing to receive one of 10 boxes of a dozen cookies from Southern Sugar Bakery.

Last year, 1,000 people took the safety quiz that covers a wide range of topics in scenarios the employees at Duke University and Duke University Health System might encounter. That includes everything from dealing with extreme heat, what to do in case of a fire and how to properly report workplace injuries.

“At an organization as large as Duke, safety culture is the product of the individual decisions that are made in offices, labs and workplaces of all kinds,” said Chip Kyles, Director of Workers’ Compensation in Duke Human Resources. “With our safety quiz, we want to help people think about safety a little bit more than they would otherwise.”

In its most recent data, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported 5,070 fatal workplace injuries and 2.5 million non-fatal workplace injuries reported in the U.S. in 2024. Both figures were down slightly from the previous year.

At Duke, where employees work in settings ranging from offices and operating rooms to research vessels, workplace safety takes many forms. Duke’s annual safety quiz offers a quick way to review key policies and sharpen safety awareness.

“We want to think of about topics that have broad applicability,” said Associate Director of the Occupational & Environmental Safety Office Nicole Greeson, who helped develop the questions each year. “We also like to highlight issues we have seen recently that would be of benefit to the majority of Duke employees, if not all Duke employees, to know about.”

Take the quiz here by June 30.

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