Laboratory Safety, Training and Compliance

The Office of Environmental Health and Safety is dedicated to reducing injuries, accidents, negative environmental impacts, and ensuring compliance with all applicable laws, regulations, policies, and standards. It achieves these by providing technical support, information and training, expert consultation and periodic audits of environmental, health and safety practices and regulatory compliance. The EHS services are designed to assist the University in achieving its teaching, research, and service objectives.

Principal Investigators (PIs) have overall responsibility for the health and safety of their research staff, for safe management of their laboratories, for the impacts of their activities on the environment and the health and safety of the public, and for ensuring compliance with a variety of federal, state, and local regulations. Specifically, PIs are responsible for:

a. Ensuring that laboratory personnel have read, understand and adhere to the relevant University Safety and Environmental Procedures and Manuals, their applicable Plans, and all University, school, departmental and laboratory policies and procedures.
b. Ensuring that new laboratory personnel take the required EHS training/s and other applicable safety training/s at the time of hire or before involvement in laboratory research activities.
c.  Obtaining all necessary institutional approvals for experiments.
d. Ensuring that laboratory personnel use the required equipment and personal protective devices.
e. Ensuring that the laboratory meets the applicable requirements for handling radioactive materials, radiation producing machines or potentially hazardous biological materials and blood products.
f. Maintaining security of all classes of hazardous materials used in the laboratory and ensuring physical hazards are adequately controlled.
g. Handling/storing all "controlled substances" as required by regulation/s.
h. Ensuring all requirements are met for the shipment/transport of hazardous materials.
i. Developing lab specific Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) as required, and training lab personnel on each SOP.
j. Preparing laboratory personnel for disruptions/emergencies, such as injuries, fires or explosions, chemical spills, floods, unscheduled power failures, campus closures and earthquakes.
k. Maintaining a chemical inventory for the laboratory and providing Safety Data Sheets (SDS) for all chemicals stored/used.
l. Establishing a policy for working after hours and working alone.
m. Ensuring that proper signage is present inside the laboratory to identify where hazards may exist.
n.Ensuring that containers are labeled so that laboratory personnel or emergency responders can determine the identity of the contents.
o. Reviewing the laboratory's operating procedures, plans and other relevant safety procedures at least once a year or whenever changes occur.
p. Taking prompt corrective action/s when unsafe acts or conditions are observed or reported.
q.  Promptly investigating and reporting all laboratory and laboratory-associated accidents, and/or work-related health problems and requesting medical treatment if required.
r. Reporting all accidents, injuries, exposures, significant spills, and releases.
s. Completing Vacating Procedures prior to any laboratory renovation or move.
t. Conducting internal inspections, reviews or audits periodically.