EH&S Radiation Safety has resources and guidance for University laboratories when preparing radiation items for surplus. The resources include a new Preparing Radiation Items for Surplus Focus Sheet.
EH&S has received reports of coyote sightings on the Seattle campus. Coyotes have been present at our campus locations and vicinity for years and they are an important part of our ecosystem.
Read the Coyotes on UW Campuses focus sheet for information on living and working around urban coyotes, preventing human-animal conflict, and reporting coyote activity our campuses.
During National Biosafety Month in October, EH&S is encouraging labs working with biohazards to identify hazards that could be substituted with a safer alternative to reduce the potential for harm while performing the same function.
Examples of safer alternatives include:
The U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA), along with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and state and local partners, are investigating a multistate outbreak of Salmonella infections linked to certain Jif peanut butter products produced at the J.M. Smucker Company facility in Lexington, Kentucky.
The University of Washington's Radiation Safety Committee recently approved a few changes to University requirements that affect research-related RUA permit holders, including the following:
The 2021 Laboratory Safety Awards & Innovations Event honored 20 labs, departments and individuals to recognize their significant contributions to enhancing the culture of safety at the UW. 
EH&S staff had an opportunity to speak with compliance inspector Chad Fisher from the Washington State Department of Ecology regarding three of the most common hazardous waste violations he's encountered at the UW. As it turns out, the majority of these violations are easily preventable and making simple corrections contributes to a safer lab environment.
A new Notice of Cleaning and/or Decontamination Form was published in August 2021 to replace the prior decontamination form. The new form contains expanded information to include cleaning as well as decontamination procedures for lab instruments, equipment, appliances, and furniture.
October is National Biosafety Month, a time to focus on your lab’s biosafety policies and procedures. For 2021, EH&S would like labs to focus on the importance of wearing lab coats. Lab coats are an important barrier between your skin or clothes and any hazards that you work with in the lab. Not only do lab coats protect you from exposure, they also help prevent you from transporting laboratory contamination home to your family, friends and pets.
