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Laboratory employees and students are often exposed to hazardous chemicals. If not handled correctly and cautiously accidents and injuries may occur, resulting in chemical-related illnesses ranging from skin and eye irritation to fatal pulmonary edema. At Eastern Oregon University our Environmental Health and Safety team works to reduce occupational exposure to hazardous chemicals in laboratories by providing training to faculty and students, maintaining the university chemical hygiene plan, as well as helping the university to maintain compliance with multiple regulations enforced by Oregon OSHA, RCRA, and DEQ.
Eastern Oregon University’s Chemical Hygiene Plan addresses the Oregon Administrative Rule (OAR) 437-002-0360 Toxic and Hazardous Substances. Its purpose is to provide guidance and protocols for the protection of faculty, staff, students, and visitors from the potential health hazards associated with chemicals used across campus. The chemical hygiene plan is reviewed annually by the chemical hygiene committee. More information can be found under the Safety Committees tab on this website.
Anyone working in a research lab or as a teaching assistant for a lab, will need to complete their annual training within the first few weeks of starting work or research. This training will address shower and spill safety, chemical storage, gas cylinder transportation as well as the general hazards and safety expectations in the laboratory. This training is provided by the EH&S III professional and/or the chemical safety officer. In order to enroll in a class please e-mail the EH&S III professional at eoustores@eou.edu.
In 2012 Oregon OSHA aligned its Hazard Communication standards with that of the Globally Harmonized System. With this revision came the new labeling requirements in 2015 for container labeling. When transferring a chemical or hazardous substance from its primary bottle to a secondary bottle OSHA requires that all of the pertinent safety information of the product is present on the secondary container. This includes the product name, hazard identification, pictogram, and responsible person. Eastern Oregon University requires not only secondary containers but all chemical samples created in class and research laboratories to be labeled in accordance with OAR 437 Division 2/Z, and 3/D. In order to ensure that all of the required information is present Eastern Oregon University has developed a peel-and-stick label that can be printed on Avery 5163 2×4 shipping labels.
Researchers are encouraged to conduct safety surveys of their areas on a regular basis. In order to guide you in this self-assessment, we have provided a checklist of general laboratory safety items that are relevant to most of our laboratories here at Eastern Oregon University. The EH&S team encourages our researchers to do this safety survey at least once a year. Please be aware that this self-assessment does not replace the laboratory safety assessments that are conducted by the Environmental Health and Safety Office and/or EOU’s Safety Committee. Once yearly please schedule an annual prevention assessment by emailing the EH&S III Professional eoustores@eou.edu.
The Worker-Right-to-Know and Lab Safety standards require that Eastern Oregon University has Safety Data Sheets for every hazardous chemical that is encountered on campus accessible to the employee at all times. Employees can access all Safety Data Sheets (SDS) via their OneLogin by choosing the Safety Data Sheet tile or via the link below. Because not all employees may be able to conveniently access the SDS program it is recommended that all departments keep hard copies of SDS sheets readily available near the hazardous chemicals they handle.
Emma SkillingsEH&S III Professionalfeldkae@eou.edu541-962-3348