Research Lab Safety
Federal and University guidelines require that all individuals working in laboratory
settings take the Environmental Health and Safety Chemical Safety Training course
annually. This course takes less than one hour. Contact
Aisha Turnbull, (813) 974-0875 for training session information.
Research Laboratory Safety Rules include
- No eating or drinking in the Labs
- Lab coats and gloves must be worn when working with radiochemicals and hazardous
biological materials
- No mouth pipetting
- Labs must maintain a copy of the
USF Chemical Hygiene Plan
- Labs must maintain a spill kit
- Labs must maintain a first aid kit
In addition to the above rules, research laboratories must participate in the chemical
inventory process (see
chemical inventory), and have access to MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet)
for each chemical in the inventory. The University provides an electronic
MSDS service through HITS.
Those Laboratories using radioisotopes need to comply with
radiation safety standards.
Laboratories using animals need to comply with University and Government guidelines
for research animal use.
Laboratories doing
cell or recombinant DNA research also need to follow University guidelines.