Orienting New Members to Laboratory Spaces
Your group is growing, this is an exciting time for the lab! When welcoming new members into your laboratory or research space, here are some important safety related items to discuss.
Training Requirements
New group members must complete the PSCFM 7010 New User Orientation which outlines the necessary training with the assistance of the GSR or supervisor. Completed training will be verified by the department Learning Group Administrator. Additional information on training can be found here.
Reporting Emergencies
All visitors and members of a group must know how to report emergencies on campus using a cell phone or landline phone. On a Cornell phone, dial 911. (Do not dial 5-911 or 9-911). Cornell Police will respond directly and will route the call to local police or fire departments, or ambulance and other services.
Location of Manuals and Emergency Equipment
- Safety manual and Chemical Hygiene Plan (CHP)
- Material Safety Datasheets (MSDS)
- Fire extinguishers
- Emergency shower (s) and emergency eye wash (es)
- Emergency telephones or lab phone
- Spill control kit and first aid kit
- Nearest fire pull station
- Safety glasses, lab coats, protective gloves, safety shields, other unique protective equipment
Leaving the Lab During a Building During an Evacuation
- Emergency shut off switches as appropriate
- Location of the emergency exit (s) from lab
- Show emergency route from the floor (primary and secondary routes)
- Explain that after leaving the building, people should maintain a 50’ distance from the building
- Instruct new members to :
1. Close door
2. Leave the lights on
Chemical Storage & Transport
- If a new member will fill dewars or use cryogenic liquids, take them to the nitrogen fill station and explain proper fill procedures (cryogen, gloves, set up etc.)
- Location of gas cylinder receiving and storage areas
- Location of bottle carriers
- Location of chemical storage facilities for the group (solvent cabinets, acid/ base, oxidizer storage)
- Advise new member that all chemicals must be labeled with the full chemical name
- Transport chemicals via bottle carriers, chemical shipping box or sealed secondary container
- Users must be certified to ship or prepare shipments of hazardous materials including chemical, biological and radiological samples.
Receipt, Handling & Storage of Compressed Gas Cylinders
The University’s compressed gas supplier offers just‐in‐time service. This means that in most cases, cylinders will arrive as early as one day following placement of an order. The vendor will deliver the gases to the appropriate designated area in the complex.
Prior to ordering compressed gases, users should check their inventory in Vertere to ensure that they do not have unused stores of the desired compressed gas. Users should also verify that there is space available in the use area to safely store the number of cylinders being ordered.
Facilities management personnel will place a cylinder tag on each container. This tag will be used primarily to differentiate between empty and full cylinders. The tag will be labeled with the PI name, date received, room and order number. A Vertere inventory barcode will be created and affixed to the cylinder tag.
Users should be aware that gas cylinders generally arrive the day after the order has been received and upon arrival will be placed in the appropriate storage area. Users will have a period of 30 days in which to remove cylinders from the storage area. Facilities management will notify a user or user group when a cylinder is approaching the 30‐day storage limit. Cylinders not retrieved within a week of the 30‐day notification will be returned to the vendor.
When retrieving a cylinder from storage, the user must employ a suitable hand truck or cart.
Chemical Inventory System
- Use of barcode system for all hazardous chemicals
- Updating inventory for all transferred chemicals
- Empty bottle disposal form
Managing Hazardous Wastes
- Location of satellite accumulation areas in the lab and the need for secondary containment
- How to label bottles and complete waste labels including when to date
- Bottles are to remain capped unless material is being added to the bottle
- Drain disposal limited to approved materials and neutralization of some acids and bases to pH 5-9
- Used oil labeling and disposal procedures
- Arranging for pick-up
Sharps
- Location of locked storage area
- Inventory system for group
- Disposal containers and drop off location/ arranging for pick-up
Other Laboratory Specific Procedures
These include special gowning or entry requirements, high hazard operations, (Hydroflouric (HF) Acid use, handling and spill clean-up, high-voltage systems and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), biohazard containment and disposal).