Posted July 1, 2020 by Dan Moser
As Nebraska’s research enterprise ramps back up after being significantly scaled back at the end of March, Environmental Health and Safety recommends that supervisors and lab staff walk through lab spaces and identify any potential safety issues and make sure they are addressed prior to restarting research work.
“Self-audits” like this are required to be conducted by supervisors on a routine basis according to UNL’s Injury and Illness Prevention Plan. EHS has temporarily suspended scheduled on-site lab safety surveys due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Self-audits by lab members may become the best way to maintain a strong safety culture and keep lab workers safe until on-site surveys resume.
The EHS SOP Safety & Compliance Survey Guidelines for Laboratories was recently updated and provides a checklist of various safety and compliance issues in categories including chemical safety, electrical safety, compressed gas cylinder safety, hazardous waste management, ventilated cabinets, PPE, lab and engineering controls and biosafety. Labs are encouraged to add additional safety concerns that may not be covered on the checklist and contact EHS for guidance and assistance with correcting any safety issues that are identified during the self-audit of your laboratory spaces.
Contact EHS at ehs@unl.edu or call 402-472-4925 with questions or comments.
