The purpose of this Chemical Hygiene Plan is to define work practices and procedures to help ensure that faculty, staff, students workers, and the environment are protected from hazards associated with the handling, storage, and use of chemicals in laboratories.
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Regulations (29 CFR 1900.1450) require all employers engaged in the laboratory use of hazardous chemicals to develop and carry out the provisions of a Chemical Hygiene Plan that is capable of protecting employees from health hazards associated with hazardous chemicals and capable of keeping exposures below Permissible Exposure Limits (PELs). See Appendix A for the full text of "Occupational Exposure to Hazardous Chemicals in Laboratories."
This Chemical Hygiene Plan applies to all laboratories at Colgate University in the departments of biology, chemistry, geology, physics, and psychology. OSHA defines a laboratory as "a workplace where relatively small quantities of hazardous chemicals are used on a non-production basis." Laboratories involve a greater variety of possible hazards than most work places, and some hazards call for precautions not ordinarily encountered. None of the labs at Colgate are without hazards of some kind and degree.
This Chemical Hygiene Plan applies to all laboratory workers. An example of a laboratory worker would be a university teaching assistant or a faulty member instructing an academic lab. Colgate also has the special responsibility of administering instructional labs with relatively inexperienced students who must be introduced to the safety procedures necessary to conduct various laboratory operations. The students that are in the academic laboratory are not considered laboratory workers unless they are employed by the university. All students involved in laboratory operations, however, must be included in safety programs and training. Safety policies and practices should be a regular part of the curriculum. A brief discussion on the first day of lab is not enough.
This Chemical Hygiene Plan will be reviewed annually by the Chemical Hygiene Committee.
Last modified: April 08, 1998