Many safety measures and the use of PPE can prevent spills and exposures to hazardous materials. However, if you do experience an exposure, your safety, and the safety of others, depends on your response to the incident.
Environmental Health & Safety (EH&S) developed the UW Lead Safety Program Manual to help personnel who work with lead materials limit their potential lead exposure to the lowest levels possible. Lead is a potent poison, which may cause significant acute and chronic health effects if not used or handled safely.
Personnel working with lead-containing materials:
A Job Hazard Analysis (JHA) can help prevent work-related injuries or illnesses by eliminating or controlling hazards. A JHA is a method for identifying and evaluating hazards associated with tasks (steps) for a specific job or activity and eliminating or controlling them before doing the activity. EH&S has created a JHA webpage to help departments and employees conduct and implement JHAs for their work activities.
Has your lab created a tool, resource, or practice to enhance safety in your workspace?
Submit it to EH&S for a chance to be recognized at the 2019 Laboratory Safety Awards & Innovations Event.
To enter, email a description of your innovation to labcheck@uw.edu (with ”Innovation” as the subject header). Selected innovations will be shared at the event on December 9 through presentations and posters.
On July 8, 2019, EH&S launched a new version of the Lab Safety Dashboard, a tool vital to our campus’ safety management in research and teaching laboratories. The dashboard has portals for scientific department principal investigators, chairs, deans and UW executives that allow them (or their designee) to review safety performance data and inspection reports for their units.
After June 21, 2019, users with temporary visitor accounts (accounts with a “wireXXXXX” format) will no longer be able to access online safety training courses provided by the Environmental Health & Safety Department (EH&S).
The Environmental Health & Safety (EH&S) is implementing a new Boating Safety Program for students and personnel who use University-owned boats or operate boats as part of their affiliation with the University. The Boating Safety Program is a University-wide program, which manages motored vessels and non-motorized paddle-craft.
If you are a UW student, personnel or volunteer who operates boats as part of your affiliation with the University, please do the following:
As of May 1, 2019, personnel who conduct work in University animal care and use areas will no longer have the option to decline the initial animal use medical screening. The medical screening evaluates and mitigates potential health risks related to working with research animals.
During your lab’s next EH&S survey visit, you will be asked a new question from the survey checklist if PPE is adequately available for everyone. The desired response to this question is a confident “Yes!”
As of April 2019, the online radiation safety training looks very different. The new training is interactive, features quizzes and activities along the way, and contains voiceovers by our very own Radiation Safety staff.
