Lab Safety

All university buildings which are currently owned or leased are inspected as necessary on quarterly and yearly schedules.

Every department or program that works with chemical substances should put together a comprehensive chemical hygiene plan.  For assistance in creating a plan, contact our office.

The office of Environmental Health & Safety has created a generic chemical hygiene plan that you may download and customize for your department.  In the event of a chemical spill, it is important to follow the chemical spill procedures.

As part of a safe laboratory, spill kits for Chemical or Biological spills should be available.  Chemical and infectious waste spill kits must be kept in all areas where waste is generated.  Although most of these items are kept in a laboratory, it is required that a dedicated box contain these items and be labeled as such.  Also, attach the spill procedures and the contents to the spill kit container.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

• Absorbent material (solvent spills)
• Neutralizers
• Acid spills (Sodium Carbonate)
• Base spills (Citric Acid)
• Mercury spill cleanup kit
• Safety Goggles
• Gloves
• Lab Coat / Tyvek Suit
• Respirator (medical evaluation and fit testing/training required prior to wearing a respirator)

• Absorbent material
• Disinfectant (bleach)
• Latex gloves
• Biohazard bag(s)
• Boundary tape
• First Aid kit

Laboratory entrance signs are required by regulatory agencies and are essential to safety by providing critical information to lab users, visitors, and emergency responders, alerting them to specific hazards in the respective lab.  Lab entrance signs are to be posted at all entrance(s) to each functionally separate laboratory.  In an open space lab design, each bench will have signs posted to specify the Principal Investigator and specific hazards located on that bench.

This new signage program allows the (Principal Investigator and/or lab personnel) to create a customized sign specifically for their lab by choosing the appropriate hazard pictogram.  The information on each sign must also include names and emergency phone numbers of the principal investigator and any other designated personnel (i.e. safety supervisor and/or building manager) so that first responders and/or other safety personnel have the critical contact information readily available to them in the event of an emergency.

Lab entrance signs are created via the web application below.  After you select the pictograms and input the information for your sign, EHS will print it and post it at the entrance(s) to your lab.  See an example of the laboratory entrance signs(opens new window).

Training and assistance in using the Lab Entrance Sign program are available through EHS.  If you have any questions about the program, please contact the EH&S Office.

Access the sign form at the EH&S Lab Signage Request Page.

If you need an EH&S user account, please visit our Account Request Page.