The NIH guidelines for research involving recombinant or synthetic DNA molecules are the basis for JHU’s DNA project registration and review procedures. Molecular biology researchers should be intimately familiar with this document.
Month: April 2015
Laser Institute of America
The Laser Institute of America is a very useful resource for laser users on campus. In addition to basic safety information, the LIA gives a variety of training courses, and they administer the American National Standards on laser safety.
Government agencies with lab safety information
Many government agencies have jurisdiction or interest in laboratory safety, and their websites often contain useful information.
- Occupational Safety and Health Administration
(OSHA: worker safety and health) - Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA: public health and the environment) - Maryland Occupational Safety and Health
(MOSH: Maryland’s representative for OSHA) - Maryland Department of the Environment
(MDE: public health & the environment; independent of EPA) - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC: biosafety) - Food and Drug Administration
(FDA: pharmaceuticals, lasers, and medical devices) - Drug Enforcement Administration
(DEA: drugs of abuse and their precursors) - Department of Homeland Security
(DHS: chemical/biological weapons and their precursors) - National Institutes of Health
(NIH: research safety, particularly recombinant/synthetic DNA) - National Institute of Occupational Safety & Health
(NIOSH: worker safety and health; part of CDC, not of NIH) - Department of Transportation
(DOT: transportation of hazardous materials–biological, chemical, or radioactive)
CDC school chemistry laboratory safety guide
The CDC publishes this guide for high-school science teachers, but it’s useful for university-level researchers as well. Don’t miss the chemical storage and compatibility charts.
Biosafety in microbiological and biomedical laboratories
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention publish “the BMBL,” the primary reference on biosafety. Compliance with practices in this guide is required for those on NIH grants.
Prudent practices in the laboratory
The National Academy of Sciences publishes the definitive book on lab safety. It’s technically written for chemical labs (hence the full title: Prudent Practices in the Laboratory: Handling and Management of Chemical Hazards) but it’s got substantial information on other hazards such as liquid nitrogen and other cryogens, centrifugation, etc. A large portion of the book is devoted to management topics like how to effectively manage chemical inventories and how to assess the hazards of a chemical you haven’t used before.
A PDF version of the book may be obtained from the National Academy Press. The hardcover book is $99.95, but the PDF is free if you register.
What to do if you can’t follow a safety rule
Sometimes, safety rules can be impractical. This can happen if the safety measure compromises the experimental intent, for example, or if it protects against a hazard that is not actually present in that specific case. Excessive cost can be a reason to vary from standard safety practices as well.
When it is necessary to omit a standard practice, it is often possible to craft solutions that offer equivalent safety. This can involve anything from simply getting permission from Health, Safety, and Environment (when there is no actual hazard) or completely re-evaluating the experimental design and construction with the help of a safety professional.
Contact Dan Kuespert, Lab Safety Advocate, for assistance in identifying solutions and getting permission to vary from JHU requirements.
Hopkins requirements for chemical handling
As a part of its compliance with occupational safety regulations, JHU has a set of Standard Operating Procedures for various types of chemicals (e.g., corrosives, compressed gases, carcinogens, flammables, etc.). Following these rules for chemical handling is mandatory.
Make sure you have the campus SOPs bookmarked in your browser if you use hazardous chemicals.
Health, Safety, and Environment guidance
Most people are unaware that the Department of Health, Safety, and Environment has both safety policies and safety guidance documents. The guidance documents provide more detailed technical information than the policies, and despite the name, compliance is mandatory.
Important guidance documents include: G07, on chemical use in labs; G09, on laser pointers; and G11, the escalation protocol for unaddressed safety violations.
Finding (Material) Safety Data Sheets for chemicals
Safety Data Sheets, or “SDSs” are documents that summarize relevant safety information on a chemical. The old name, “Material Safety Data Sheet” is obsolete.
JHU uses a commercial SDS database called ChemWatch. See GOLDFFX Guide for detailed instructions on how to use ChemWatch.
The database contains hundreds of thousands of vendor/manufacturer SDSs, updated frequently, plus many “Gold” SDSs written by ChemWatch toxicologists. You should review both any manufacturer SDSs as well as the Gold SDS for the chemical you are using.
If ChemWatch does not have the SDS you need, contact the Department of Health, Safety, and Environment to request a SDS. If you are not provided with a SDS upon request to your supervisor, by law you do not have to (and should not) work with that chemical.
You must access ChemWatch from a JHU IP address. If you receive a login prompt, do not try to login with your JHED ID. Connect to the campus virtual private network (VPN) using Junos Pulse and retry.