General Lab Safety
Lab Reminders
Lab Space and Equipment
- Activate emergency eye washes weekly(www.drs.illinois.edu/gls/eyewashes/index.aspx?tbID=pgm#_Toc141607641)
- Test emergency showers annually(www.drs.illinois.edu/gls/eyewashes/index.aspx?tbID=pgm#_Toc141607641)
- Conduct a general safety inspection of your lab annually and correct deficiencies (www.drs.illinois.edu/gls/forms)
- Review and update emergency door signs annually and as information changes(www.drs.illinois.edu/gls/forms)
- Check lab equipment stickers annually to ensure that:
- Chemical fume hoods have been inspected (www.drs.illinois.edu/css/factsheets/workpracticesforhoods.aspx)
- Biological safety cabinets are certified (www.drs.illinois.edu/bss/factsheets/cabinets.aspx?tbID=fs)
- Update lab chemical inventory annually
- Review chemical storage practices and separate incompatible chemicals (www.drs.illinois.edu/css/factsheets/ChemicalStorageGuidelines.aspx)
- Clean out labs and associated storage rooms (www.drs.illinois.edu/regwaste/index.aspx)
- Dispose of old and unwanted chemicals
- Unused chemicals in good condition will be recycled by DRS (ChemCycle program) (www.drs.illinois.edu/css/programareas/chemcycle/index.aspx?tbID=pa)
- Dispose of unwanted radioactive materials
- Dispose of old and unwanted chemicals
- Verify that fire extinguishers have been tested annually
- Contact ccandfs@illinois.edu to report out-of-date extinguishers
Lab Procedures
- Review and update Lab Safety Manual annually (www.drs.illinois.edu/gls/factsheets/LabSafetyManualTemplate.aspx?tbID=fs)
- Chemical Hygiene Plan – required for any lab that uses hazardous chemicals (www.drs.illinois.edu/css/guidesplans/chyp/index.aspx?tbIDi=gp)
- Biosafety Manual – labs operating at Biosafety Level 2 (BL-2) must dedicate a portion of the lab manual to Biosafety
- Radiation Safety Permit
- Laser Safety Procedures
- Consider deactivating radioactive permit if there are no immediate plans to use radioisotopes
- Request dosimetry for new employees, if required
- Ensure that lasers (Class 3b and 4) are registered with DRS
- Update Institutional Biosafety Committee project registrations to reflect changes in personnel, facilities and experimental protocols
Lab Training
- Provide and document lab-specific training on hazards and protocols in your lab for all personnel
- Provide and document training on emergency response procedures (including spills, power outages, etc) for all lab personnel (www.drs.illinois.edu/spillresponse)
- Ensure that all new lab personnel have completed the DRS online General Lab Safety Training (www.drs.illinois.edu/gls/training)
- Review DRS safety training requirements (www.drs.illinois.edu/training/questionnaire.aspx)
- Determine which safety training must be repeated annually (e.g. refresher Bloodborne Pathogen training)
Questions?
Contact the Division of Research Safety (333-2755 or via e-mail) or visit our web site: http://www.drs.illinois.edu.
Other General Laboratory Safety Fact Sheets are available from the Division of Research Safety on our web site at http://www.drs.illinois.edu/factsheets/.
