Lab Safety

Providing support, in the form of risk assessment, review, consultation(link sends e-mail), training, and the necessary resources and guidance for research at UC Berkeley.

Vacuum System Hazards and Precautions

Office of Environment, Health & Safety
2012

Many campus laboratories are supplied with a “house” vacuum system. The house vacuum system creates suction from a large vacuum pump in a mechanical room whose piping extends to laboratories throughout the building. These house vacuum pumps are maintained by campus maintenance staff, and it is important the systems not be contaminated with hazardous materials or organisms.

Laboratories that are not connected to a house vacuum system, or that need a stronger vacuum, commonly use stand-alone vacuum pumps such as rotary vane pumps, turbopumps, diffusion pumps, and/or cryogenic vacuum...

Calculating the Stored Energy of a Pressurized Gas Vessel

Office of Environment, Health & Safety

When a gas is compressed, it stores energy. If an uncontrolled energy release occurs, it may cause injury or damage. Stored energies in excess of 100 kJ are considered highly hazardous. Sometimes it is helpful to think of stored energy in terms of grams of TNT. One gram of TNT contains 4.62 kJ of energy.

Pressure Vessel Visual Inspection Guide

Office of Environment, Health & Safety

This guide serves as an example and is presented with permission from LBNL. There are many types of pressure vessels so this serves as a template that allows you to replace the images to meet your specific needs.

Visual comparison guides are effective for certain applications, when for example, researchers may otherwise not know what is acceptable or not. We might state “look for excessive wear or corrosion” but these are partly qualitative descriptions that people can interpret differently. Excessive wear to one person may not be the same to another. The visual guide helps to solve...

Guide for Assembling a Pressure Vessel

Office of Environment, Health & Safety

This guide serves as an example and is presented with permission from LBNL. There are many types of pressure vessels so this serves as a template that allows you to replace the images to meet your specific needs.

Visual comparison guides are effective as a quick review of processes. It is recommended to keep these near relevant equipment. Visual guides can be useful for new researchers learning to use the equipment or as a refresher for those who do not regularly use the equipment. People may interpret qualitative descriptions differently so a visual guide helps to solve that...

Microtome Use: Hazards and Precautions

Office of Environment, Health & Safety
2013

A microtome is a device that cuts extremely thin sections of tissue for microscopic study. They can be manually operated, semi-automatic, or automatic, and can also be referred to as “histomes” and “cryostats.” Microtomes can present a hazard when the sharp blades and foot treadles are uncovered, and accidental activation can lead to finger amputation. In 2008 a health care lab worker in San Diego lost a fingertip while preparing and cutting tissue samples on a microtome.

Electrophoresis Equipment: Guidelines for Safe Use

Office of Environment, Health & Safety
2004

Electrophoresis units present electrical, chemical, and radiological hazards. All of these hazards need to be addressed before using the units. The Office of Environment, Health & Safety (EH&S) has prepared these guidelines and the accompanying checklist to assist researchers in safely operating electrophoresis units.

Ultracentrifuges: Hazards and Precautions

Office of Environment, Health & Safety
2005

The ultracentrifuge is a commonly used type of laboratory equipment. Rotors are exposed to enormous forces every time they are used. Rotors can fail catastrophically, resulting in destruction of the entire centrifuge and damage to a laboratory. As evidenced by the attached photographs, there is no doubt that serious injury could result should someone be present when a failure occurs. To prevent such failures, all ultracentrifuge manufacturers require that ultracentrifuge users maintain an up-to-date use log for each rotor, and also require that each time a rotor is used it must be given a...

Fume Hoods (Fact Sheet)

Office of Environment, Health & Safety
2008

One of the most important safety devices in a laboratory is a properly functioning fume hood. The fume hood protects users by containing and exhausting airborne hazards; it does this by constantly pulling room air into the hood and exhausting it from the roof. Fume hood sashes also provide shielding in the event of an explosion or fire inside the hood.

Eyewear - Protecting Your Eyes Fact Sheet

Office of Environment, Health & Safety
2006

More than 90,000 eye injuries occur each year in the United States. Many of these could have been prevented with proper protective eyewear. The California Occupational Safety and Health Administration (Cal/OSHA) requires that protective eyewear be worn wherever there is the potential for injury from flying particles, hazardous substances, or dangerous light. The eyewear must meet the standards put forth by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) in Standard Z87.1-1989. Safety eyewear that meets this standard has “Z87.1” imprinted on the frame or lens. Since eye hazards are common...

Personal Protective Equipment for Lab and Shops

Office of Environment, Health & Safety
2020

Controlling a hazard at its source is the best way to protect employees. Engineering or administrative controls to manage or eliminate hazards to workers is the preferred option. When engineering or administrative controls are not feasible or do not provide sufficient protection, supervisors must provide personal protective equipment (PPE) to their workers and ensure its use. Attire when occupying a laboratory or shop containing hazardous materials or equipment.