Lab Safety Responsibilities for Faculty, Staff and Students

Last Revised: August 08, 2023

Faculty

A Principal Investigator (PI) has the overall responsibility for compliance with the Chemical Hygiene Plan in his or her laboratory. This responsibility may not be shifted to inexperienced or untrained personnel.  In addition, research sponsors such as NIH expect grantees to meet applicable Federal, State, and local health and safety standards and implement the necessary measures to minimize their employees' risk of injury or illness.

The PI must assure that:

  • laboratory workers and others entering laboratory know and follow chemical hygiene SOPs.

  • proper lab attire is worn (lab coats, gloves and eye protection).  Shorts and sandals are not permitted in the lab. 

  • appropriate training as determined by Workday Learning has been provided to all occupants of the laboratory and the PI is listed as the supervisor. Supervisors of new faculty, staff, and students will need to assign EHRS training through Workday Learning. For more information, go to our Training website. 

  • unsafe acts, conditions or inadequate facilities are reported to their Chair/Director, Departmental Safety Officer or Environmental Health and Radiation Safety.

  • chemical inventory is performed and maintained through the ChemTracker module in BioRAFT. The use of certain toxins is restricted by CDC regulations and may require laboratory registration.

  • the Principal Investigator must complete a lab hazard survey and sign the Chemical Hygiene Work Plan in BioRAFT annually, when research conditions change, or when new research is initiated.

  • maintain a current list of lab members in BioRAFT.

Staff 

Laboratory staff are responsible for:

  • attending appropriate training as determined by Workday Learning and listing the PI of the lab as their supervisor.

  • wearing appropriate personal protective equipment that includes but may not be limited to a lab coat, gloves and safety glasses in the laboratory

  • ensuring that they are listed in the lab members section of their labs' profile in BioRAFT

  • reporting unsafe acts or conditions to their principal investigator or Environmental Health and Radiation Safety

Students 

Students are responsible for:

  • attending appropriate training as determined by Workday Learning and listing the PI of the lab as their supervisor.

  • wearing lab coats, safety glasses and nitrile gloves when in the lab.  Shorts and sandals may not be worn into the lab even under a lab coat.

  • ensuring that they are listed in the lab members section of their labs' profile in BioRAFT.