Brian Ranger has been named the new director of University of Tennessee, Knoxville’s Department of Environmental Health and Safety (EHS).

Ranger, who is no stranger to the inner workings of UT, was hired in 2000 as a research associate in the Department of Microbiology. Shifting his career to biological safety in 2006, Ranger went on to become the biological safety program director and biosafety officer. When the biosafety program merged with EHS in 2019, Ranger was appointed as the program leader of Laboratory Safety Services, covering biosafety, chemical safety, and equipment safety in laboratories, academic shops, and makerspaces.

Since 1992, when Ranger first came to UT as an undergraduate student, he has been fascinated with research and discovery. That love is one he never lost, and he has worked to constructively integrate safety into the research world. “When you’re working in a research lab, you see ways that you can assist from the safety standpoint, to play a small but helpful role in the discovery process and to help UT excel at innovation,” said EHS Director Brian Ranger. “We can partner with their research efforts and help safely bring their ideas to life.”

In addition to laboratory safety, EHS responsibilities include occupational safety, fire and life safety, building safety, industrial safety, hazardous waste management, environmental compliance, risk mitigation, safety training, and technical support.

“Our department works closely with academic and administrative groups on campus to make sure we promote safety to students, employees and even our visitors,” said Ranger.

Ranger takes on the role with several new goals he will work to achieve.

“One of my main goals is to push for a comprehensive safety culture shift, where safety is not just a compliance requirement, but an institutional value, who we are at the University of Tennessee,” said Ranger. “We are already undergoing a positive culture shift, which I am very excited to continue.”

“Also, there are a few safety programs that operate independently of EHS, which can be confusing to our campus stakeholders. We are hoping to achieve a better working alignment with our safety partners that are not in EHS, to shore up any gaps, and to move the entire safety enterprise forward,” said Ranger.

Finally, Ranger has high hopes for turning EHS into a learning organization.

“We want to become a learning organization, where we continuously grow technically and professionally. Our department is blessed with tremendous talent and subject matter expertise. It is important to teach (and learn from) each other to keep pace with the constantly changing regulatory and compliance environments,” said Ranger. “I think this will also make us more effective in teaching and promoting safety to our campus constituents.”

Environmental Health and Safety falls under the umbrella of public safety at UT, which is led by Associate Vice Chancellor of Public Safety, Troy Lane.

“Ranger brings a lot of positive energy to the table and is eager to hit the ground running in his new role,” said AVC Troy Lane. “He is passionate about the safety culture here at UT, and he has a knack for working well with faculty and staff members, focusing on the bigger picture of making EHS excel.”

Ranger is a Certified Biological Safety Professional (CBSP) through the American Biological Safety Association (ABSA), a Specialist Microbiologist (biosafety) through the National Registry of Certified Microbiologists (NRCM), and an active member in ABSA, the Southeastern Biological Safety Association (SEBSA), and the Campus Safety, Health, and Environmental Management Association (CSHEMA).