Tag: chemical safety
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Chemical Management Campaign
EHSO recently launched a new campaign to help researchers reclaim space, reduce exposure, and avoid incidents and spills related to hazardous chemicals. In the coming weeks, you may see posters within the research buildings regarding this campaign. Researchers are encouraged to evaluate their current hazardous chemicals by considering the following questions: How does my lab…
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Fire Safety in Laboratories: Working with Hot Plates
A recent fire occurred on campus that caused substantial damage to a chemical fume hood. Many of the components of this important engineering control will have to be replaced. The cause of the fire is suspected to be due to a defect in the hot plate that was used. To continue our discussion on hot…
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Working with Chemicals in Animals
In support of the Chemical Safety program, EHSO and members of the Chemical Safety Committee review chemicals to determine if an agent requires Chemical Safety Approval. Chemicals are evaluated based on the characteristics of the hazardous agent, route of administration, the dose, the length of the study, and the animal species used. If you plan…
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September Reminders
Just a few reminders for the month of September from EHSO: When moving Biological Safety Cabinets to a different floor or a different building, the BSC must be decontaminated prior to the move and affixed with the equipment hazard tag. Be sure to visit the regulated waste schedule. Personnel working in your lab who are…
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Clean Up, Clean Up
Recently, an employee from building residential services was injured after entering a lab space to perform routine cleaning after hours. The employee received a chemical burn after a corrosives bottle on the benchtop caught onto her sleeve and spilled acid on her arm. The container was left near the edge of the benchtop instead of…
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How Do I Handle Contaminated Broken Glass?
Last month, we reviewed that only clean broken glass should go into the broken glass disposal box. This month, we will discuss how to dispose of broken glass contaminated with either a chemical or biological agent. As with any spill, you should consult your written Standard Operating Procedures (SOP), which contains specific guidance on cleaning…
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What Can I Place into a Broken Glass Disposal Box?
A short article on the proper use of the broken glass disposal box. The purpose of the broken glass box (Image 2) is to safely store and dispose of any decontaminated/clean broken glassware and non-infectious slides. Sharps are disposed of in a sharps container (Image 3). UV lamps, microscope bulbs, and broken mercury thermometers…
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Working with Limited Chemical Storage Space: Corrosives
In this multi-part series, we will discuss common problems with storage of chemicals in Emory research labs, and some practical solutions. Background Through the lab safety self inspection process, we have encouraged lab personnel to use secondary containers for corrosives and we now find acids and bases are stored this way. However, follow up lab…
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Lessons Learned: Chemical Burns
Lab coats protect your skin and clothes from laboratory contamination such as splashes and spills. The lab coat can be easily removed and reduce your exposure to laboratory contamination. Additionally, when wearing synthetic fabrics (polyester, nylon, acrylic, etc.), the fabric can ignite after a chemical splash, causing the material to melt and cling onto your…
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Defacing Chemical Labels
Recyclables are being rejected from Emory University’s recycling vendor when chemical bottles are not properly defaced. One undefaced label will send the entire batch of recyclables to the landfill. To properly deface labels for non P-listed chemicals, see the steps below. All P-listed chemicals must be disposed of through EHSO. Radioactive materials must be…