Laboratory Safety Practices

Kentek or Laser Safety Institute are good resources ------------------------------ Patricia Delaney Environmental Health & Safety Officer Bridgewater State University Bridgewater MA 508-531-2751 ------------------------------

Robert, At Texas A&M, we've enjoyed working with Kentek ( https://www.kenteklaserstore.com/ ). They've always been very helpful when we've asked for help with various laser calculations. They offer consulting services and have a demo van they drive ...

I'm looking for recommendations for laser safety training/consultation resources.  We have a a laser safety program but will need help in determining MPE numbers etc. as well as directing users to the appropriate level of on-line training.  Thanks for ...

The University of Florida is hiring an EH&S Coordinator I to assist the Laboratory Safety Program Manager with implementation and management of the University's Laboratory Safety Program. For more details, please visit: https://explore.jobs.ufl.edu/en-us/job/515220/environmental-health-safety-coordinator-i ...

Jackie, We've done a lot of work with lab kits/home experiments. I would strongly recommend reaching out to your university's Office of General Council and Risk Management departments (or whoever handles legal and/or insurance issues). Short version ...

Jaclyn: Hopefully attachments come through OK in these replies. If not, let me know and I can provide the text or send the file directly. I've attached a Word document that my colleague adapted from one of the common commercial home-experiment ...

Hi All, I have a last minute request from a Chemistry professor to have students conduct a few low hazard labs at home this semester. Does anyone have a waiver they are using for this that they would not mind sharing? Thank you in advance! Jackie ------------------------------ ...

Hi again everyone! I keep forgetting to mention that we will be on the call 15 minutes early for any questions or just to chat. Hopefully I'll see you shortly! Tristan ------------------------------ Tristan White Safety and Health Specialist Duke University ...

Happy New Year! Becky and I hope everyone has had a good start to their year and has caught up as much as possible with your emails! This is your monthly reminder that the Lab Safety CoP will have our monthly call tomorrow (Thursday), January 7th at ...

About UCSF The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is a leading university dedicated to promoting health worldwide through advanced biomedical research, graduate-level education in the life sciences and health professions, and excellence in ...

The University of Memphis is looking for an Occupational Safety Manager for our Environmental Health & Safety Office.  We are seeking a Team Member with a bachelor's degree in Industrial hygiene, occupational safety and health, chemistry or closely related ...

Hi all, I'm looking to refresh my lab safety training for custodians. I've been using the same one for several years, with minor tweaks, and I want to change it up a bit for them. We are doing the training in-person again this year (socially distanced, ...

Hi Sabine, That sounds pretty standard. I would still say a risk assessment would be a good place to start for these. You should also check with your Public Safety and EMS and see if they carry Narcane. I would also probably think about the process for ...

Hi Tristan, Thanks for the reply. I wish I could have been on the lab safety COP meeting call to discuss. Yes, some of our labs are using powders to make their own dilutions to then inject into animals. They are not using DMSO. Thanks, Sabine ...

Hi Sabine, We discussed your question in the Lab Safety CoP meeting just few minutes ago and the main question that came to mind was what would the risks of exposure to the opioids be that would need Narcane? As far as I know, Duke does not require it ...

We've used CITI for our IBC training and only recently switched to another platform. My experience with it was similar to Jay's. Disadvantages: 1. I started using CITI several years ago because I could "tailor" the training to different groups, since ...

Good morning everyone! This is your monthly reminder that our December COP meeting will be tomorrow at 3pm. Make sure to check the COP page to get the updated Zoom link and password as those have changed. Our planned agenda is below: Icebreaker ...

Yes.  Well, not recently.  We've been using CITI for years.  I like it, outside of the fact that all training is generic.  Though I have created other modules in powerpoint, converted to Captivate (I think), and had it added to our CITI portal.   It works, ...

Hi Everyone, Our university is starting the process of onboarding CITI training for IRB, IBC, general research, etc. I was wondering if anyone out there had done the same recently and would be willing to share their experience (what went great, pitfalls ...

Hi Everyone, I would like to hear from other Universities how you handle Research labs that work with opioids. Do you require them to have Narcane on hand and if yes how do they purchase it? Are they required to have protocols that get reviewed by....? ...

Forwarded Announcement: FYI  --   Here's the schedule for LSI's upcoming live courses and webinars in November, December 2020 and January 2021 https://www.labsafety.org/courses-calendar ;  https://www.labsafety.org/lab-safety-webinars . You can ...

Hello Lee, At UT Dallas, we request that the PI/lab members disinfect lab surfaces in the event a confirmed positive or presumed positive (due to exhibiting symptoms) individual occupied the lab space.  We have a lab occupancy scheduling system in ...

Becky, Unsurprisingly, we're right there with you in terms of the six furlough days. However, beyond the length of our holiday break, haven't made plans for any changes this year. We normally have limited on-campus staffing from our Campus Fire Marshals ...

Hi Joy, A few years ago I put a PPT presentation together on this issue.  I'll attach it here as well as some other resources.  Hopefully this will get you the information you need. Kindra ------------------------------ Kindra Kelly-Quagliana Biosafety ...

Good morning everyone! This is your monthly reminder that our COP meeting will be tomorrow at 3pm. Make sure to check the COP page to get the updated Zoom link and password as those have changed. Our planned agenda is below: Icebreaker - Who's used ...

I'm looking for a little light to be shed on the ANSI markings on safety goggles/glasses. Specifically, help my historical and current understanding. 'Back in the day' it was my understanding that if it looked like a google and had the Z87.1 marking that ...

Hi All, I'm the new-ish co-leader of the Lab Safety Community of Practice, along with Tristan. Our meeting is coming up this Thursday, and I had a topic in mind, hoping to spark some discussion so we can talk more at the meeting. I hope all of you are ...

Hello Lee, Labs are asked to close for seven days from the date the confirmed positive researcher was last in. If the lab wants to open sooner than that, EH&S is consulted to determine the appropriate level of cleaning/disinfecting with a suitable disinfectant. ...

Penn's procedure for lab cleaning/disinfection for probable and confirmed cases of COVID-19 (as of today) can be found here: https://ehrs.upenn.edu/covid-19/recommendations-cleaning-labs-suspectedprobableconfirmed-covid-19-cases Recommendations ...

Good morning. Who is responsible...If a lab worker or someone who is using a Core facility reports they are covid positive or symptomatic, does your institution hire a (covid) cleaning contractor or do they expect the lab personnel to disinfect the lab. ...

Check out NFPA 600 guidelines Dennis ------------------------------ Dennis Terpin Retired, Manager Industrial Hygienist/Emergency Manager University of Illinois Chicago Bolingbrook IL ------------------------------

We want you to call 9-1-1 even if you've successfully put the fire out. As to when to fight or flee, this seems like a good starting point. Jeff https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/etools/evacuation/portable_relation.html#Assessment -- ...

Jack, I'm not sure if this is what you are looking for... but in our general lab safety training we teach everyone how to use an extinguisher (PASS) and that they only have a limited amount of extinguishing capabilities and therefore, if a fire is ...

General fire extinguisher training guidance is that if the fire is bigger that a waste basket then you should not try to put it out but just evacuate. Take the fire extinguisher with you in case you need to clear a path or break a window. ...

All, We're currently considering working with labs to have them develop fire safety plans for processes that run a risk of fire. Part of this would be establishing the parameters in which it is considered safe for the lab to contain the fire themselves, ...

Our institution is hiring a new director of EHS; the position description is at the link below. If you have any questions about working at A-State, I'd be happy to answer. Bobby Clark https://www.higheredjobs.com/admin/details.cfm?JobCode=177336708&Title=Director%20Environmental%20Health%20%26%20Safety%20%28A00132%29 ...

Thank you Markus and Tristan - this is all very helpful!  Good that this question has come up because it isn't often raised based on the number of users who would have FR lab coats be a necessity for them.  In any event, I will take all this into account ...

Cross-posting (IH and Lab Safety Practices) The University of Pennsylvania's Office of Environmental Health and Radiation Safety currently has a position open for an Industrial Hygienist.  A link to the job posting is included below.   https://wd1.myworkdaysite.com/en-US/recruiting/upenn/careers-at-penn/job/Left-Bank-EHRS/Industrial-Hygienist-B_JR00025206 ...

Thanks Nancy, I got side tracked and missed the COP meeting. This is what I finally recommended (NOTE - although the ANSI standard is weekly flushing/testing, our MIOSHA consultant indicated MIOSHA would accept records for monthly flushing). ...

Hi Jeff, We discussed your question during the Lab Safety COP call yesterday. I'm sure it is no surprise that the answers varied and depended somewhat upon the size of the institution. To our knowledge, ANSI does not specify a retention time for weekly ...

Thanks for asking this question.  It prompted some research in practices and algorithms. For an outcome based PPE algorithm, you may consider  "pyrophoric" beyond the term appearing on a SDS.  For example, in synthetic chemistry, there are laboratory ...

Hey Ryan! Duke doesn't have specific fabric weight or arc ratings for FR lab coats, but one thing we have recently been encouraging labs to look at are the Flame and Chemical resistant lab coats. Bulwark makes one that we have had labs use and they ...

Hi everyone, We don't have a ton of lab personnel on our campus that handle pyrophoric materials or anything that requires an FR lab coat.  However, there are a few limited PIs and their research groups who do need them for their work.  One School @ ...

Hi Everyone! Our regularly scheduled Lab Safety Practices CoP meeting is tomorrow, October 1st at 3pm Eastern. Please see the CoP Community page for the most recent and up to date Zoom link and password. Our agenda for the meeting is below: New ...

ANSI standards recommend weekly flushing/test of eyewashes and annual inspections for flow.  Let's say your doing a good job keeping track of this information using hanging cards on the eyewash.  How long does your institution retain them (is it specified ...

Good morning, Please be advised of the upcoming conference. The CUHMMC is a great opportunity for professional development and networking with your EHS peers! And they are offering a campus wide registration options at $195! Registration is Now Open! ...

Good morning CSHEMA friends! Our University of South Carolina is seeking candidates for an Assistant Chemical Hygiene Officer position with EH&S.  Please spread the word if you know of anyone who might be interested.  Details for this job announcement ...

Hi Kate ... Smithing and forging are not unheard of in higher education. Actually, my high school taught smithing and forging in FAA Ag shop classes. (And, no, I wasn't in high school before the War of 1812.) Basic shop and tool safety precautions ...

Hi Kate, Like Ruth I've never built a forge or even personally worked with one, but I have watched (way too many) YouTube videos about forging and even about building forges. One video I remembered from Alec Steele (yes that's really his name...) has ...

Hi Kate, I have never built a forge but, from my horse days I know that most blacksmiths have mobile forges, see if you can rent one. It would probably be cheaper and safer than trying to build one. Ruth ------------------------------ [Ruth] [Horowitz] ...