Workplace Safety

The campuswide Workplace Safety Program serves as the university’s central program for creating a safe and healthful work environment. 

Understanding Sharps Safety and Handling

June 25, 2025
What Are Sharps?

Sharps are any items with pointed edges or projections capable of cutting, puncturing, or piercing the skin. Common examples include:

Hypodermic needles

Syringes with attached needles or tubing

Razor blades, scalpels, and X-Acto® knives

Glass Pasteur pipettes

Broken glass items

Glass microscope slides and coverslips

Sharp instruments...

Laboratory Ergonomics

June 24, 2025

The campus Ergonomics program is a faculty and staff support unit part of the Be Well at Work program under University Health Services. They provide assistance to departments to guide ergonomic improvement for campus faculty and staff work environments to prevent and address repetitive strain injury.

Their primary goal for departments with lab environments is to help labs address ergonomic risk from a design and equipment standpoint. Most of the fundamental ergonomic risks faced in lab work can be attributed to lack of adjustability, manual...

Sewer System Management Plans

Wastewater generated at UC Berkeley is conveyed through our sanitary sewer collection systems and eventually flows to EBMUD's wastewater treatment plant in Oakland prior to discharge to the San Francisco Bay.

The Waste Discharge Requirements Order No. 2022-0103-DWQ adopted by the State Water Resources Control Board regulates sanitary sewer systems greater than one mile in length (each individual sanitary sewer system).

UC Berkeley maintains regulatory coverage for three collection systems:

Sewer System Management Plans

(All...

Wildfire Smoke

Providing resources and guidance for the UC Berkeley community to reduce exposure to wildfire smoke.

Jacob Sharp

Industrial Hygienist Specialist
Workplace Safety
Indoor Air Quality

UC Berkeley Workplace Violence Prevention

Environment, Health and Safety (EH&S) is the responsible department for overseeing the campuswide Workplace Violence Prevention Program.

Overview Workplace Violence Prevention Plan What to Report How to Report Employee Training Requirements Workplace Violence Hazard Assessment Resource and Policy Links Overview

The University of California, Berkeley is...

Event Permit Procedures

Ensuring safe and compliant campus events. Special Event Requirements for Registered Student Organizations

The Office of Environment, Health & Safety (EH&S) is responsible for permits and inspections of campus events at which food is served to the public. In accordance with the California Retail Food Code, Registered Student Organizations (RSOs) can hold up to ...

Event Safety

Ensuring safe and compliant campus events. Fire & Life Safety during Events

An event permit may be required to ensure the fire and life safety of the campus community. Issues of concern include:

Expected attendance of fifty or more people Campus space being used for other than normal purposes Tents or canopies over 400 sq ft Locations that could impact access by emergency vehicles Use of open flame,...

Flammable & Combustible Liquids Storage In Campus Laboratories

Office of Environment, Health & Safety
2006

California Fire Code (CFC) regulations limit the quantity of flammable and combustible liquids that can be stored in research and teaching laboratories. This fact sheet provides a simplification of the complicated CFC regulations, and establishes standard practice at University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley). For questions not covered in this fact sheet, or for assistance with more complicated issues, please contact the Office of Environment, Health & Safety (EH&S) for situation-specific guidance.

Heat Illness Prevention and Response

Heat Illness Prevention and Response

Work in hot environments can have direct effects on human health including, heat exhaustion, heat stoke, and can lead to reduced labor productivityAll university employees who work outdoors or in environments with elevated indoor temperatures may be at risk for heat illness– the group of medical conditions caused by the body’s inability to cope with heat.

Heat exposure can...