By: Chloe Laszlo '25

Over the summer of 2024, Lauryn Chapman ‘25, an environmental science and Spanish major, completed an Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) internship at Sherwin-Williams. She discovered the opportunity by searching for environmental health internships near Columbus, where her family resides. 

In her role, Chapman participated in meetings focused on improving worker safety at the plant and ensuring compliance with the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Her daily tasks included preparing hazardous waste for shipment, cataloging Safety Data Sheets (SDS), and interacting with plant floor workers.

A key project she worked on under the guidance of an Environmental, Health, and Safety (EHS) specialist was completing a large water determinations project. Chapman identified and categorized 120 different streams of waste produced by the plant, creating a detailed spreadsheet that classified each type of waste as hazardous or non-hazardous, and for hazardous waste, the specific materials involved. She also used AutoCad, a computer design software application that allows users to create 2D and 3D drawings or models, to create a route transporting waste from the plant to the dumpsters outside. 

Chapman enjoyed having the opportunity to work on projects by herself stating, “My bosses put a lot of faith in me and I had fun figuring out what to do.”

Mount Union classes prepared her for her internship by helping her to understand what it meant when waste was deemed hazardous and the proper procedures to take when disposing of waste, and she was also able to frequently make use of her Microsoft Excel skills. 

Chapman said that the internship taught her a lot about how to apply environmental health and safety regulations to the real world. She was able to take her classroom knowledge and embrace it through hands-on situations.

“I had a lot of fun the whole summer working at my plant,” Chapman added. “All of my coworkers both in the office and on the plant floor were incredibly nice and supportive of me which was amazing!” 

To learn more about Mount Union’s environmental science program, visit our environmental science degree page.