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Hydrogen Gas Safety Alert!
The independent investigation by the University of California (UC) Center for Laboratory Safety into the March 16, 2016 explosion in a University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa laboratory has been completed. The UC team identified the likely physical cause to be an electrostatic charge and also provided recommendations on how UH and universities and research facilities across the country can improve laboratory safety practices.
When working with hydrogen gas you must ensure that all equipment and storage cylinders that come in contact with the gas are properly grounded and designed for use with flammable gas. Please read the following documents which provide excellent guidance on the safe handling of compressed flammable gasses.
We offer online Hydrogen Safety training and are here as a resource for you. If you are going to begin working with hydrogen, please contact our department so we can conduct a hazard assessment.
Chemical Waste Compliance Update
The Indiana Department of Environmental Management conducted a comprehensive hazardous waste inspection on campus on June 2nd.
To read about the findings from IDEM's inspection visit please click here.
We would like to thank the faculty, staff and students for their efforts to ensure a safe and regulatory-compliant workplace of learning.
Shorts and Sandals are Appropriate for the Beach, but not the Lab
It is summer and this is the time of the year where laboratory personnel want to begin wearing shorts and sandals in the laboratories. Adequate protective clothing must be worn whenever working in the laboratory. “Adequate” means, at a minimum, clothing that falls below the knees and shoes that fully cover the feet. These, of course, are in addition to other personal protective equipment such as a lab coat, gloves and eye wear.
Please click here to read about the importance of ensuring you are properly clothed when working in a laboratory.
Requirements for Biohazard Bags and Sharps Containers
This is a reminder that the use of red or orange autoclave bags are prohibited, unless you have contracted out your biohazard waste disposal. This includes red sharps containers. Only non-red bags and charps containers, such as clear/translucent sharps containers and biohazard bags, may be used. This change was made in an effort to harmonize the manner in which biological waste is handled from IU laboratories in Indianapolis with the rest of the IU system and to mitigate concerns from the local waste facilities,
Understandably, this has raised some questions so we have a FAQ document that was previously shared and can be reviewed here.
To find out more about this requirement as well as to read more about how to properly dispose of biohazardous waste please click here to review the IUPUI Biological Waste Procedures. |
