Roles & Responsibilities

Departmental Environmental Health & Safety Committee

• Provide oversight and support for the Chemistry and Biochemistry Department's chemical safety program. As a part of this oversight, the Departmental Environmental Health & Safety Committee reviews incidents that the Departmental Chemical Hygiene Officer (DCHO) deems necessary.
• Members of the Departmental Environmental Health & Safety Committee are appointed annually by the department's chair and assistant chair. Appointments are made each fall and last a full calendar year.

Department Chairperson

• Appoint a Chemical Health & Safety Coordinator.
• Assist in developing a Departmental Chemical Hygiene Plan (DCHP) to implement and ensure compliance with the University Chemical Hygiene Plan (UCHP).
• Serve as an active member of the Departmental Safety Committee and be a pro-safety representative for the department.
• Communicate health and safety information to the department.
• Notify DCHO of Principal Investigators who are leaving, moving, or retiring to ensure that proper lab decommissioning occurs.

Principal Investigators (PI) and Laboratory Supervisors

• Establish guidelines and rules for their laboratories that meet minimum requirements that are in accordance with the University Chemical Hygiene Plan (UCHP), Departmental Chemical Hygiene Plan (DCHP), KSU policies, and federal, state, and local regulations.
• Ensure all lab personnel working in the labs comply with UCHP, DCHP, and LCHP.
• Make available Safe Operating Procedures (SOPs) [alternatively, edit and approve SOPs written by post-docs, graduate students, or the DCHP] on unique equipment, procedures, and hazards specific to the laboratory in which they will work.
• Ensure all lab workers in the laboratory have completed EHS-required training. All lab workers must complete the laboratory safety checklist.
• Enforce the rules and requirements of the UCHLSP, DCHP, and laboratory-specific SOPs.
• Ensure all lab personnel have the appropriate Personal Protective Equipment and use it as required.
• Participate in EHS laboratory inspections.
• Notify the Departmental Chemical Hygiene Officer (DCHO) of laboratory construction projects or renovations.
• Report all laboratory incidents to DCHO and EHS promptly.
• Maintain training documentation from FlashTrain and CITI.
• Conduct routine housekeeping and chemical inspections to identify issues and correct them.
• Ensure proper storage and disposal of chemicals in the lab.

Employees: PIs, Graduate Assistants, Faculty, Students, Visiting Scientists, Volunteers, etc. 

• All employees in research or teaching laboratories that use, handle, or store hazardous chemicals are responsible for the following:
• Review of the DCHP as well as a review of the appropriate Safety Manuals and Policies.
• Following all laboratory safety rules, regulations, and standard operating procedures required for the tasks assigned.
• Know where to find the UCHP, DCHP, SOPs, and safety data sheets, as well as the locations of spill kits, first aid kits, safety showers and eyewashes, fire extinguishers, and other emergency response equipment.
• Developing good personal chemical hygiene habits, including but not limited to keeping the work areas safe and uncluttered.
• Planning, reviewing, and understanding the hazards of materials and processes in their laboratory research or other work procedures before conducting work, including familiarity with emergency response and spill response information.
• Utilizing appropriate measures to control identified hazards, including consistent and proper use of engineering controls, personal protection equipment (PPE), and administrative controls.
• Understanding the capabilities and limitations of PPE issued to them.
• Gaining prior approval from the PI/Laboratory Supervisor for using restricted chemicals (such as radioactive and P-listed chemicals) and other materials.
• Consult with PI/Laboratory Supervisor before using particularly hazardous substances, explosives, and other highly hazardous materials or conducting specific higher-risk experimental procedures (i.e., experiments requiring a blast shield).
• Immediately report all incidents and unsafe conditions to the PI/Laboratory Supervisor or Departmental Chemical Hygiene Officer (e.g., chemical spills, exposures, fires, work-related injuries, illnesses, etc.).
• Completing all required health, safety, and environmental training and providing certification documentation to their supervisor.
• When working autonomously or performing independent research or work, research personnel are responsible for the following:
• Reviewing the plan or scope of work for their proposed research with the PI/Laboratory Supervisor.
• Notifying and consulting with the PI/Laboratory Supervisor in advance if they intend to significantly deviate from previously reviewed procedures (e.g., a change in molarity).
• Providing appropriate oversight, training, and safety information to the laboratory or other personnel they supervise or direct.

The Departmental Chemical Hygiene Officer (a.k.a. Chemical Health & Safety Coordinator)

• The Departmental Chemical Hygiene Officer (DCHO) ensures that health and safety compliance objectives are pursued and achieved in the department. The responsibilities of the DCHO are:
• Act as a liaison with the UCHO, EHS, and Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry to ensure compliance.
• Handles reporting via providing reports at the department safety committee meetings on chemical hygiene activities performed, preparing, investigating, and filing incident reports with the Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) Office,
• Guides PIs and researchers with general chemical safety guidance, including training, guidelines, and other health & safety affairs, the development, review, and approval of risk assessments and/or SOPs of hazardous materials,  the purchase of highly toxic, reactive, carcinogenic, or other inherently hazardous materials and, personal protective equipment selection based on findings of hazard risk assessment and published data.
• Maintains the chemical inventory system by overseeing the delivery of chemicals and packages to appropriate laboratories, regularly updating researcher permissions to the system, adding and removing chemicals from the system upon receipt and disposal of chemicals, and regularly conducting a physical inventory of laboratory spaces in conjunction with researchers.
• Assists department leadership with establishing health and safety goals and objectives to continually improve the health and safety of department occupants.
• Identifies health and safety needs with the department leadership to improve health and safety (e.g., training, personnel protective equipment, corrective measures).
• Conducts periodic lab inspections and assists EHS with routine inspections. Facilitate corrective actions for any issues identified during inspections.
• Chairs the departmental safety committee and participates in the Laboratory Safety Committee.
• Distribute UCHP and DCHP, and communicate laboratory safety information via email, postings, and other channels.
• Collects, monitors, and coordinates Hazardous Waste disposal for the department.
• Notifies EHS before a faculty member retires or leaves the University so proper laboratory decommissioning can occur.