Welcome to Environmental Health & Safety

Environmental Health & Safety (EH&S) is an administrative unit that assists University units in meeting their responsibility to protect the environment and to provide a safe and healthful place for employment and learning.

EH&S employs about 100 people who are spread across the UW Seattle campus in multiple locations.

We have six sections organized around the services we provide. Read the descriptions below and view our organization chart.

 

Hazardous waste storage and labeling reminders

November 30, 2021

Please keep in mind storage requirements and labeling options for your hazardous chemical waste. 

Store waste at or near the generation point: Regulations require all hazardous waste be stored “at or near” its point of generation. In most circumstances, if you have to leave the room or go through a door to get to the storage location (prior to pickup by EH&S), then it is not at or near the point of generation. 

 

Changes to hazardous materials shipping regulations in 2022

November 22, 2021

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has published updated regulations manuals for 2022, which may impact University units that ship dangerous goods by air. The list of regulation changes on the IATA website address shipping lithium batteries, infectious substances, and live animals. We have listed below the most relevant changes related to certain types of lithium batteries:

 

Airgas service changes for cryo storage of biological samples

November 18, 2021

UW personnel commonly order liquid nitrogen (LN2) from suppliers such as Airgas Inc. and Praxair (aka Linde Welding Gas and Equipment Center) for cryogenic storage used to preserve biological samples.

Airgas recently notified the University that as of January 1, 2022, Airgas staff will no longer perform the following services:

dewar with cryo-freezer
Dewar with cryo-freezer