Environmental Health and Safety

Laboratory Safety

Laboratory Safety

Safety Areas and Information

Laboratory Emergency Guidance

Laboratory personnel should be familiar with established University policies and procedures regarding emergency situations.

Chemical Use in CARE

Animal research involving the administration of chemicals requires careful review to minimize the risk of chemical exposures for researchers and animal care staff.

Chemical Fume Hoods

Laboratory ventilation is an important engineering control measure used to protect laboratory personnel from exposure to hazardous materials used in the laboratory. The chemical exhaust hood is the most useful of these engineering controls. The purpose of a chemical exhaust hood is to prevent or minimize the escape of airborne contaminants from the hood to the laboratory air.

Chemical Storage, Compatibility, and Transfer

Chemical storage guidelines can help control the health and physical hazards posed by chemicals during storage and use in the laboratory. A chemical inventory that is properly maintained and kept at a minimum can reduce the inherent hazards of chemicals. Unwanted, unused, or expired chemicals should be removed from the laboratory and chemical storage areas should be maintained and inspected annually.

Hydrofluoric Acid Safety Awareness

Hydrofluoric Acid (HF) is an inorganic acid with special chemical properties that make it particularly hazardous to laboratory researchers. It is highly corrosive, very reactive, incompatible with many materials, and exposure to HF can result in burns and even death.

Nanomaterials Safety

Nanomaterials are objects with at least one dimension between 1 and 100nm. They could be particles, fibers or plates. Engineered nanoparticles with homogenous size distributions are often produced or used in a variety of research settings and applications. Additionally, ultrafine particles of nano-scale can result from processes such as milling and filing.

Heating Element Safety

Accidents involving a heat source typically results in a burn, fire and/ or an explosion. Using these types of equipment in the fume hood will help protect lab personnel in the event an accident occurs.

Compliance References

Resources

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Building Specific Safety Information

Some of our research buildings have specialized systems related to laboratory ventilation and safety . If you work in one of these buildings, you need to be familiar with the systems in them.

Geo-Chem

In Geo-Chem, there are several safety systems in place such as the Hazardous Materials Storage in H rooms, Bulk Solvent and Special Ventilation alarms.

225 Dyer

Laboratory Safety Contacts