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.

Fire Safety & Lab Doors: Propping Open Doors

Office of Environment, Health & Safety
2025

Many people prop doors open for ease of access or to increase airflow. However, not all doors are allowed to be propped open. Laboratory doors and any door opening into a corridor should never be propped open.

Access to many campus labs is restricted to approved personnel due to the presence of hazardous materials and equipment, including lasers, radiation sources, as well as biological and chemical agents. These areas require specific safety training and personal protective equipment (PPE) before entry is permitted. Any lab that handles...

Flooding Event and Improper Disposal of Glassware

March 6, 2025
Office of Environment, Health, and Safety
What happened?

Last month, severe flooding occurred in a campus building, leading to unexpected challenges in laboratory waste management.

A serious concern emerged when floodwater seeped into cardboard boxes, used for clean glass disposal, that did not have plastic liners. Without this essential barrier, the integrity of the boxes were compromised, rendering them unsafe for handling and disposal.

As a result, safety responders had to take extra precautions to safely transfer the broken glass and sharps to new disposal...

Electrical Fire Caused by Heat Gun Connected to Power Strip

March 6, 2025
Office of Environment, Health, and Safety
What happened?

A small fire broke out in a laboratory in the Department of Physics when a service technician plugged a heat gun into a power strip that was plugged into an isolation transformer. When a transformer is overloaded, the transformer can experience high operating temperatures, causing it to overheat. In this case, the overheated transformer caused a small fire to break out.

Fortunately, there were no injuries and damage was very minimal. The service technician notified the lab manager as soon as they noticed smoke. The Lab Manager...

Important Updates to Drain Disposal Restrictions

February 27, 2025
Office of Environment, Health, and Safety

The campus Drain Disposal Restrictions have been revised in an effort to simplify the guidelines and mitigate improper disposal practices. Discharge of hazardous chemical wastes into the municipal sanitary sewer system is prohibited by campus policy and is regulated by federal, state, and regional laws. UC Berkeley is committed to the protection of the local community and the environment.

Action Required

Review the revised ...

Training

Job Safety Analysis

Job Safety Analysis or JSAs describes job tasks in step-by-step fashion, identifies associated hazards at each step, and outlines proper hazard controls that minimize the risk of injury or illness to the individual(s) performing that task.

Getting Started with Job Safety Analysis (JSA)

How do I write or find a JSA? The objective of providing this library is to:

Improve safety awareness among staff Decrease injury rates Make effective JSA resources available to the entire UC Berkeley campus

Lab Managers & Safety Coordinators

Laboratory managers and Laboratory Safety Coordinators (LSCs) are typically selected by a lab’s principal investigator, and serve a critical role with regards to lab safety. In many cases, the LSC is also the lab manager, though not always. LSCs serve as delegates for the principal investigator for many safety programs and applications including Lab Hazard Assessment Tool (LHAT) and Inspect.

Megan Hall

Lead, UC Chemical Management Safety (Deputy Fire Marshal, DCFM)
UCOP Center of Excellence
Fire Prevention
Hazardous Materials

Lab Inspections

Lab Safety General Lab Safety Inspection Program

EH&S lab safety specialists inspect labs with hazardous materials or operations. Labs within the College of Chemistry are inspected twice per year. During inspections, lab safety specialists help researchers stay abreast of current safety requirements by providing consultation, support, and resources. Inspection topics cover training,...

Ingrid Castro Rodriguez

Associate EH&S Director; Director of Health & Safety
Health & Safety
Controlled Substances
Administration