Information for Laboratory Safety Officers
This page has been designed with the laboratory Safety Officer
in mind. A brief description of what is required of new Safety Officers
is provided below. Experienced Safety Officers may want to jump
straight to one of the sections provided in the links to the right.
What is a Safety Officer?
A Safety Officer (SO) is someone designated by the Principal Investigator
(PI) to act on his/her behalf as an intermediary to the EH&S
officer and its staff. The SO can be the PI, a lab manager, or any
member of the lab who has a general understanding of the procedures
being performed in the lab. We suggest that the SO also be someone
with experience, seniority, and/or authority to get things accomplished.
The SO must be able to meet with EH&S staff to discuss the
routine safety consultations that are performed as well as safety
issues that arise.
The SO should be able to attend the quarterly safety officer meetings
in which we pass along information such as recent regulatory changes,
inspection results, recent injuries, and helpful reminders concerning
the issues most problematic at the institute. This meeting is also
an opportunity for you to bring up issues of concern for you or
your staff in an environment where other lab safety officers can
pass along their experience with similar problems or to expand on
issues that are similar in nature.
What do we expect Safety Officers to know?
Safety Officers should have a general understanding of the various
procedures being performed in the lab in which they work. Therefore,
if a question or concern arises due to equipment or situations discovered
in the lab, the safety officer can discus with EH&S personnel
how best to address the situation.
Safety officers must also have regular access to the PI so that
larger problems can be brought to their attention. We suggest that
you meet with your PI to discuss safety issues at least quarterly.
You should have enough of an understanding of the work performed
in your lab that you can decide which issues discussed at the safety
officer meetings are of practical importance to your lab, staff,
and PI.
What do we expect Safety Officers to do?
As stated above, you will be our primary contact in the lab for
all things safety related. If we have questions regarding safety
or regulatory issues in the lab we will contact you for clarification.
We will send you a copy of the safety consultation report so that
you can follow up on these issues with you lab staff.
Another major part of your job as we see it is the orientation
of new employees to your lab. Some things you should be prepared
to show new employees are:
• Discuss any special hazards specific to your lab
• Discuss safety issues of all procedures the employee is
asked to perform
• Go through the New Hire Orientation Checklist and return
it to EH&S
• Assign safety equipment such as lab coats, safety glasses,
gloves, face shields, blast shields, etc.
• Ensure that additional safety trainigs are attended as
needed
Other tasks that may be assigned to you by your PI:
• Injury reports
• Calling in waste for disposal
• Emergency coordinator for the lab
The Safety Coordinator
is a member of the EH&S office who has been assigned to each
lab either by the building or the department for which a lab works.
Safety Coordinators perform routine audits/inspections called "consultations"
of the laboratories at least quarterly. Coordinators are also responsible
for passing along new information, providing answers to your questions,
and conducting annual safety training for your lab.
A list of coordinators can be found here.
Feel free to contact your assigned coordinator for any and all questions
you may have. If the Coordinator cannot answer the question, s/he
will be able to track the information down for you. Remember that
first and foremost, EH&S is a support service. Feel free to
yuse us as a resource.
Forms and documents that might help you understand the issues and
responsibilities of a Safety Officer can be found here.
Information passed along at the quarterly safety officer meeting
will be available here. Power point
presentations will be displayed here as well as links to any specific
forms or questionnaires that may have been provided at the recent
meeting.
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