Equipment and Tool Safety

Providing resources and guidance for the safe use of tools by UC Berkeley personnel.

Computers and Electrical Equipment

Lab Self-Inspection Checklist

Office of Environment, Health & Safety

Reviewing the EH&S lab self-inspection checklist is a good way to prepare for inspections. The department safety coordinator for each department or an EH&S lab safety specialist will reach out to each lab to schedule an inspection time.

Contact the campus chemical hygiene officer at (510) 643-6381 or ucbcho@berkeley.edu with any questions or concerns about the EH&S General Lab Safety Inspection Program.

Forklift Rollover

December 31, 2006
Office of Environment, Health, and Safety
What Happened?

A veteran forklift operator with 20 years of experience started his day just as he had often done, then soon realized just how fast things can change. Due to an oversized load, the operator was transporting a dumpster bin on the forks of his forklift while he was traveling in reverse. While in reverse, he hit a curb, causing the forklift to roll over onto its side.

The stunned operator was transported by ambulance to the hospital emergency room, where he was treated for a fractured leg.

The operator understood the importance of wearing a seat belt and holding-...

Paper Cutter Guards

November 30, 2000
Office of Environment, Health, and Safety

Don't lose your thumb! Paper cutters such as the one here are not safe or legal. Cal/OSHA has cited campus departments for allowing unguarded paper cutters in the workplace in prior years.

a hand on a paper cutter with no finger guard

Lessons Learned

Please be sure all paper cutters in your department have a guard like the one seen here.

Bolt and Brace Your Shop Equipment

October 31, 2002
Office of Environment, Health, and Safety
What Happened?

Someone was using the vice pictured below to hold an item in the process of a normal workday. In the process of performing a task, the vice toppled off the surface onto the person's foot causing a serious injury. The person was not wearing steel-toed boots.

Lessons Learned

Always wear your steel-toed boots when working around heavy machinery and shop equipment. All shop equipment that is designed to be braced to a work surface or floor must be braced. Do not use equipment that could fall or otherwise cause injury if it is not braced according to...

Employee Receives Electrical Shock

March 31, 2004
Office of Environment, Health, and Safety
What Happened?

A university employee was changing ballasts above a drop ceiling in a department reception area. The employee received an electrical shock from a 277volt circuit and was knocked off a step stool that she had placed on top of the reception desk. She fell from a height of 46.5 inches, but received only minor injuries and returned to work the following day.

What was the cause? The power source was not locked and tagged out. Instead, the light switch was turned off. The ladder to be used was too large to work from behind the reception desk, so a...

Fire Hazard with Immersion Water Heaters

September 30, 2005
Office of Environment, Health, and Safety
What Happened?

It is believed that a Cole Parmer Polystat 12002 immersion heater in a University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC) microbiology laboratory did not shut off as the water level in the plastic bath dropped, allowing the temperature to rise to the point that the bath material ignited. The fire caused extensive damage to the building and shut down research for several months.

What was the cause?

Immersion water heaters/circulators used in plastic tubs (baths) have been associated with laboratory fires at several universities in recent years. When...

Missing Guard on Incubator Fan Injures Post Doc

July 31, 2007
Office of Environment, Health, and Safety
What Happened?

A postdoctoral researcher was reaching into a New Brunswick Scientific Model G-25R Shaker Table Incubator to clean up a spill when her right hand got caught in the spinning exhaust fan blade. She lacerated her middle finger and lost part of the fingernail. She was treated in a local hospital emergency room.

New Brunswick Scientific Model G-25R Shaker Table Incubator...

Researcher Smells Toxic Fluorine Gas When Changing Out Gas Cylinder

April 30, 2007
Office of Environment, Health, and Safety
What Happened?

Two researchers were changing out a gas cylinder containing a low concentration of fluorine used in an excimer laser. After reconnecting the regulator, researchers opened the cylinder valve, heard a hissing sound, and smelled a pungent odor. They quickly turned off the cylinder valve and reported the incident to their department safety coordinator (DSC). Fluorine is a very toxic and reactive gas, but fortunately, the concentration was dilute, less than 0.1% fluorine. The DSC contacted EH&S and was advised that researchers involved should be medically evaluated because of...

Pressurized Dewar Cap is Blown Off and Causes Minor Injury

February 28, 2009
Office of Environment, Health, and Safety
What happened?

In July 2008, a guest scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory sustained a minor injury when the cap of a 50-Liter liquid nitrogen Dewar burst off and hit his forehead. The scientist needed to fill the Dewar - which hadn't been used for several months - and assumed it was depressurized because of its lack of use.

Without wearing safety goggles or a face shield, the scientist attempted to verify the Dewar was depressurized by pulling a pressure relief plug. The relief plug was not designed to be manually operated (it did not have a pull ring), and it is...