At Florida State University, 2 EH&S safety officers have as their primary responsibility the all-hazards safety inspections of all laboratories.  These are not audits, but plain sight inspections.  We conduct follow-up inspections of laboratories where we have especial concerns – usually about a dozen, usually in the Chemistry and Engineering departments.  We also note particular observations for follow up by other Safety Officers in EH&S, for example a laser set up without apparent shielding or curtains would be referred to our Radiation Safety Officer.

Lab self-audits may be on the horizon, and we suggest these but currently don’t require them.

Janice

Janice Dodge

Laboratory Safety Officer

Florida State University

850-644-8916

A few questions asked by our Administration:

1.       What is the frequency of EH&S –led laboratory inspections for those of you in large  academic research institutions?

2.       # of EHS staff whose primary role is inspections?

        3.  Are Individual PI’s or Departments required to inspect  their labs?  How often?

Thanks,

-Stefan Wawzyniecki, CIH, CHMM

NRCC-CHO

UCONN