General Lab Rules and Guidelines
6. General Laboratory Rules and Guidelines
6.1. Lab Rules and Guidelines
6.1.1. Appropriate PPE must be worn at all times. At a minimum, long pants, close-toed shoes, lab coats, gloves and safety glasses must be worn whenever hazards are present in the laboratory.
6.1.2. Long hair, neckties, or loose clothing should be tied back or otherwise secured. No shorts, sandals, open-toed or perforated shoes are permitted in the laboratory. Skirts must be ankle length when working with chemicals in a laboratory.
6.1.3. No eating, drinking, or cosmetic application is allowed in laboratories where hazardous chemicals are present. No smoking, vaping or smokeless tobacco are permitted on any properties owned, leased or operated by KSU (KSU Policy 5-21).
6.1.4. All laboratory personnel must know the location of safety data sheets (SDS), emergency showers, eyewash stations, first aid kits, emergency exits, spill kits, and fire alarm pull stations.
6.1.5. Never block any emergency equipment in the lab which includes safety showers, eyewash stations, emergency exits, fire alarm pull stations, circuit breaker panels, fire extinguishers, gas shutoffs etc.
6.1.6. Exposure to hazardous chemicals via any route (inhalation, ingestion, injection and / or absorption) will be minimized by use of substitution, engineering controls, administrative controls and then personal protective equipment.
6.1.7. The use of audio headphones (over-ear and in-ear) is prohibited when performing chemical procedures and highly hazardous operations.
6.1.8. Practice good housekeeping by keeping laboratories organized, uncluttered, and in hazard-free condition.
6.1.9. Any procedure or operation identified by EHS staff as imminently dangerous (i.e., the operation puts individuals at immediate serious risk of death or serious physical harm) must be immediately stopped until corrective action is taken.
6.1.10. Report fires to the Principal Investigator, Lab Supervisor, or Instructor, and Fire Prevention. In an emergency, call 911 from a campus or cell phone.
6.1.11. Injuries, accidents, spills, near miss events and exposures must be reported to the Principal Investigator, Lab Supervisor or Instructor, and Environmental Health and Safety. In an emergency, call 911 from a campus or cell phone.
Note: A “Near Miss” is an incident where no property was damaged and no personal injury was sustained, but were given a slight shift in time or position damage and/or injury easily could have occurred.
6.1.12. Laboratories with special or unusual hazards must post signage on the laboratory entrance doors, equipment or spaces within the lab with appropriate warning signs. This includes use of lasers, radioactivity, biological agents, high hazard chemical use and other processes or procedures that could present a physical or health hazard when in operation.
6.1.13. All laboratory workers must comply with warning signs and labels.
6.1.14. Never smell or taste any chemical.
6.1.15. No mouth pipetting or siphoning of any materials.
6.1.16. All containers should be capped when not in use.
6.1.17. Laboratory personnel should only perform experiments that they are authorized to conduct by the lab owner.
6.1.18. Consult with the Principal Investigator, Instructor or Lab Supervisor if there are any questions regarding an experiment, equipment, procedure or process.
6.1.19. Never work alone in a laboratory unless there are appropriate communication plans in place in the event of incident to get assistance quickly. (See Section 8.2.5 for more detail)
6.1.20. Household equipment and appliances should never be modified from its intended use.
6.1.21. Never use equipment that has been decommissioned until repaired.
6.1.22.If any experiments will be left unattended throughout the day or continuing overnight the researcher must use appropriate safety precautions that are approved by the Principal Investigator. Safety Precautions must be employed when leaving equipment such as power stirrers, hot plates, heating mantles and water condensers unattended.