News

Safe and Inclusive Working Environments for Off-Campus or Off-Site Research

Environment, Health & Safety (EH&S) is preparing the 2023 Manufactured Nanoscale Materials Disclosure for the City of Berkeley.

If you use nanoscale materials in your lab, and

    a. you have never filled out the Nanoscale Materials Information Form,

or,

    b. you have begun using new nanoscale materials, or a new class of materials, in your lab, 

Learn more about Q-Bracing Safety.

UC Berkeley continues to take critical steps to ensure the health, safety, and well-being of the campus community. EH&S is offering surgical masks, N95s, and other personal protective equipment (PPE) for COVID-19 protection to employees. Please refer to the PPE order form or learn more about the current UC Berkeley mask requirements

Laser Free Day Information

Agilent, a lab instrumentation company, has identified a potential fire safety hazard affecting the 8890, 8860, and Intuvo 9000 Gas Chromatography (GC) instruments. If your department has any of these instruments, please share the attached notification with potential users for more details about corrective actions that can be taken to mitigate the fire safety hazards.

On Friday, September 9, 2022, Environment, Health & Safety (EH&S) responded to a fire incident at 2000 Carleton Street resulting from a defect in a recalled “SMC” brand pedestal oscillating floor fans.

Overview

The risk of getting infected with Monkeypox (Mpox/MPX) is very low for the general public.  However, as this comes on the heels of the Coronavirus and all the public health concerns that it has raised, it’s important to get informed about the risks of MPXand what you can do to protect yourself.  

Be Prepared to Help

First Aid Training Opportunity

Urgent Field Action Notice: Getinge ULTIMA Washer/Dryer

Environment, Health & Safety (EH&S) has been advised of a defect with ULTIMA washer/dryer models that may be in use in your lab.

The manufacturer, Getinge Life Science, has received complaints where the screed/cylinder link of the ULTIMA washer/dryer was broken, leaving the door unlatched when opened. This may result in an unreasonable risk of harm to the user.

Updated UC Berkeley COVID-19 Training

UC Berkeley Guidelines on Protecting Workers from COVID-19

Cal/OSHA recently made its third and final revision to the COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standard. The Campus COVID-19 Prevention Plan is being updated accordingly. The new ETS will go into effect on May 6 and will remain in effect through December 31, 2022.

Live Fire Extinguisher Training classes are available the first Thursday of each month. Sign up today! 

The previously announced changes to mask guidelines are now in effect.

Effective Monday, March 7, 2022

Each year, law requires that the Cal/OSHA Annual Summary of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses Form 300A be posted in each department. The summary must be posted in a visible place, such as where notices to employees are displayed. Departments must have the summary posted through April 30, 2022.

Please work with your department(s) to ensure that this summary is appropriately posted.

Reuse & Disposal of Face Coverings

What happened?

A researcher was exposed to a 1 watt continuous wave beam from a Ti-Sapphire (852 nm) laser while visually inspecting a non-linear crystal on the optical table with a dielectric mirror. The researcher was unaware that the beam was present and it was directed into their right eye. The researcher was not wearing laser eye protection because they thought the laser was off.

Keeping EH&S Applications Secure

EH&S has implemented temporary security parameters to reduce vulnerabilities across our applications. In order to use EH&S applications, you will now need to either