Laboratory Safety Manual - A-State

LaboratorySafetyManualEnvironmental Health andSafety

Arkansas State University Environmental Healthand SafetyLaboratory Safety Manual 1Executive SummaryThe purpose of this manual is to provide guidance for personnel on how to work safely in laboratories.Laboratories are expected to be in compliance with this manual in the areas that are applicable. Wherethe guidance provided in this manual is not used, written documentation should be given showing thatthe procedure or arrangement used in lieu of the guidance given in this manual will provide a situationthat is either as safe or safer than the guidance given in this manual.This manual applies to all areas that are classified as laboratories and the personnel that work withinlaboratories. This guidance is not meant to apply to areas outside of laboratories; for those areas, referto safety manuals specifically written for those areas. This manual is intended to provide generalguidance for common laboratory procedures. Laboratories should have standard operating proceduresfor hazardous procedures and chemicals that are unique to their lab or for any highly hazardousprocedure or chemical. For assistance in determining whether or not a procedure or chemical is highlyhazardous, contact the director of EHS.There are a number of regulations and guidelines concerning laboratory safety. The primary regulation isthe Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Lab Standard (29CFR1910.1450); however,this is not the only source of requirements for working safely in the laboratory. Other sources includethe rest of the OSHA regulations for General Industry (particularly those that deal with personalprotective equipment, engineering controls and hazardous material storage), Environmental ProtectionAgency (EPA) and Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) Hazardous Waste Regulations,Department of Transportation (DOT) regulations and International Air Transport Association (IATA)requirements for shipping of hazardous materials, CDC guidelines for use of biological materials in labs(Biosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories or BMBL), American National StandardsInstitute (ANSI) guidelines for safe use of lasers, the Department of Energy and the ArkansasDepartment of Health regulations for radiation use among others.The OSHA Lab Standard addresses the use of chemicals and other substances on a laboratory scale. Thelab standard requires the development of a Chemical Hygiene Plan. Arkansas State does have a ChemicalHygiene Plan that can be found on the Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) website. The ChemicalHygiene Plan addresses all of the requirements of the Lab Standard; adopting a Chemical Hygiene Planreduces the regulatory burden on laboratories in regards to many of the other requirements of SubpartZ of the OSHA regulations.

Arkansas State University Environmental Healthand SafetyLaboratory Safety Manual 2ContentsExecutive Summary .1Chapter 1: Roles and Responsibilities .51.1 Principal Investigator/Responsible Faculty.51.2 Environmental Health and Safety .51.3 Facility Manager.61.4 Staff and Students .6Chapter 2: General Laboratory Rules .6Chapter 3: Laboratory Attire .7Chapter 4: Engineering Controls and Safety Equipment .84.1 Ventilation Equipment and Containment Devices .84.1.1 Chemical Fume Hoods .84.1.2 Biological Safety Cabinets .114.1.3 Glove Boxes and Glove Bags .154.1.4 Other Ventilation/Containment Devices .174.1.5 More Information .184.2 Safety Showers and Eyewashes .184.3 Fire-Related Safety Equipment .19Chapter 5: Administrative Controls .215.1 Signs .215.2 Training .255.2.1 Laboratory Safety Training .255.2.2 Environmental Compliance Training .265.2.3 Other Training .285.3 Standard Operating Procedures .295.4 Inspections.305.5 General Housekeeping .30Chapter 6: Personal Protective Equipment .326.1 Eye and Face Protection .336.2 Hand Protection.356.3 Lab Coats .396.4 Respiratory Protection .40

Arkansas State University Environmental Healthand SafetyLaboratory Safety Manual 36.5 Other PPE .41Chapter 7: Safe Use of Chemicals .427.1 Routes of Chemical Exposure .427.2 Minimizing Chemical Exposure .447.3 Information on Chemical Hazards .447.4 Chemical Exposure Limits .527.5 Chemical Exposure Monitoring.527.6 Chemical Labeling.527.7 Chemical Storage and Segregation .537.8 Chemical Transport .557.9 Chemical Spills .55Chapter 8: Chemical Hazards (General) .568.1 Flammable Liquids .568.2 Flammable Solids.598.3 Corrosives .598.4 Toxic Chemicals .618.5 Compressed Gases .638.6 Oxidizers and Organic Peroxides .648.7 Peroxide-Forming Chemicals .64Chapter 9: Highly Hazardous Chemicals .659.1 Particularly Hazardous Substances .659.2 Explosives .679.3 Pyrophoric Chemicals .689.4 Water Reactive Chemicals .689.5 Otherwise Violently Reactive Chemicals .699.6 Hydrofluoric Acid and Perchloric Acid .699.6.1 Hydrofluoric Acid .709.6.2 Perchloric Acid .70Chapter 10: Hazardous Chemical Disposal and Shipping .7110.1 Chemical Waste Disposal .7110.2 Hazardous Chemical Shipping .72Chapter 11: Physical Hazards .74

Arkansas State University Environmental Healthand SafetyLaboratory Safety Manual 411.1 Compressed Gases .7511.2 Electrical Safety .7811.3 Machine Guarding .8011.4 Cryogenic and Cold-Item Safety .8111.5 Autoclave and Hot-Item Safety .8211.6 Sharps and Glassware .84Chapter 12: Biological and Radiological Hazards .8612.1 Biological Hazards .8612.2 Radiation .8612.3 Lasers.86Chapter 13: Laboratory Emergency Preparedness .8613.1 Fire .8613.2 Hazardous Material Spills .8713.2.1 Spills That May Be Cleaned up by Lab Personnel .8713.2.2 Spills That Require EHS Assistance .8713.2.3 Spills That Require HAZMAT Team Response .8813.2.4 Spills of Unknown Material .8813.2.5 Spill Kits .89Chapter 14: Laboratory Safety Culture .89

Arkansas State University Environmental Healthand SafetyLaboratory Safety Manual 5Chapter 1: Roles and ResponsibilitiesSafety in the laboratory is a responsibility that is shared by faculty, staff and students. General roles andresponsibilities for all faculty, staff and students regarding safety are defined in the university-wideSafety Operating Procedure found here: /faehs.pdf. Responsibilities specific to laboratory safety is described below.1.1 Principal Investigator/Responsible FacultyThe Principal Investigator (PI) is the person in charge of a research lab. Responsible faculty is a facultymember that has primary use of a teaching lab or is responsible for a teaching lab. PI and responsiblefaculty have the following responsibilities: Ensure that the staff and students know and follow the chemical hygiene rules and projectspecific protocols, Ensure that appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) is available and in working order, Ensure that staff and students know the location of the chemical hygiene plan, Ensure that staff and students know where to find a safety data sheet (SDS) for the substanceswith which they may come in contact, Ensure that all SDSs that are sent with chemicals shipments from the supplier are kept, Ensure that staff and students have completed all appropriate training, Provide an inventory of all hazardous chemicals to EHS annually before May 31 and Ensure chemical fume hood is operating properly on a monthly basis1.2 Environmental Health and SafetyWhile day to day compliance with regulations within the laboratory is the responsibility of the laboccupants, EHS also has a responsibility to help ensure the safety of all workers and students that arepresent in laboratories. To that end, these are the responsibilities of EHS with regard to lab safety: Develop and implement appropriate chemical safety practices, Promulgate current legal requirements concerning regulated substances, Help determine the level of protective apparel and equipment required based on the hazardswithin the laboratory, Review and update all plans regarding laboratory and chemical safety on a regular basis, Respond to researcher queries regarding new procedures and/or chemicals, Monitor new procedures to determine the appropriate level of protection, Ensure employee exposures do not exceed permitted exposure limits (PELs), Monitor exposure if there is suspicion of levels of exposure in excess of established PELs andfollow all requirements in regards to employee notification and records, Suspend work in a laboratory until if exposure levels to a substance are exceeded until such timeas measures are taken to reduce exposure levels to less than the PELs andReturn to Contents

Arkansas State University Environmental Healthand Safety Laboratory Safety Manual 6Provide training upon request regarding laboratory safety to all students and employees thatwork in laboratories.1.3 Facility ManagerNot all buildings that have laboratories have a facility manager. The responsibilities of a facility managermay be accomplished by the faculty in charge of a lab, a department designee (such as a departmentsafety coordinator) and, in the case of regular inspections, EHS. The responsibilities of the facilitymanager are as follows: Monitor procurement, use and disposal of chemicals used in the lab, Ensure that facilities and training for any material being ordered are adequate and Perform regular formal laboratory safety inspections as well as routine inspections ofemergency equipment.1.4 Staff and StudentsWhile those listed above have the responsibility of providing a safe laboratory environment andensuring that

Chapter 3: Laboratory Attire Laboratory attire is distinct from personal protective equipment (PPE) in that it is the expected clothing Arkansas State University Environmental Health