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.

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...

Biological Spill Kit Instructions

Chips (Toan) Hoai
2016
When a biological spill occurs Alert people in the immediate area. Check yourself for contamination. Assess the situation: Are you wearing all of the necessary PPE to clean this spill? Cover the spill and the area around the spill with absorbent material. Pour freshly made 10% bleach on absorbent materials in a spiral motion, starting from the outside of the spill working your way into the center. Allow a 20-minute contact period. Wipe down any contaminated stationary equipment or furniture with an appropriate disinfectant. Use forceps, tongs, or broom to remove...

Guidelines for Minimizing Toxic Air Contaminant Emissions in Laboratories

Office of Environment, Health & Safety
2008

In 1995 the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD, the District) adopted new regulations and formulated a set of Responsible Laboratory Management Practices (RLMPs) designed to minimize the emission of toxic air contaminants (TACs) from laboratory operations.

The University of California, Berkeley, is committed to protecting the local community and the environment and to complying with the laws and regulations governing emissions of TACs. In response to the new requirements, the campus Laboratory Operations & Safety Committee, together with the Office of Environment,...

Radiation Use Authorization Application

Office of Environment, Health & Safety
Radiation Use Authorization (RUA) Application Form

The use of radioactive materials or radiation producing machines (RPMs) at UC Berkeley must occur under an approved Radiation Use Authorization (RUA).

Laboratory-Specific Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)

Office of Environment, Health & Safety
2009

A Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) is a written set of instructions that document how to safely perform work involving hazardous materials or hazardous operations. SOPs are required by Cal/OSHA . There are no specific legal requirements regarding their content.

Exploding Cylinder in Garbage

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

On April 11, 2007, an employee of Campus Recycling and Refuse Services was alarmed when a suspected compressed gas cylinder ruptured in the rear hopper of a garbage truck. The employee was standing at the rear of the truck and had activated the blade that sweeps the garbage from the hopper into the body of the truck for further compaction. The pressurized gas cylinder was believed to be concealed inside a plastic trash bag. The sweeping action of the blade ruptured the cylinder and the residual contents sprayed into the employee’s face.

A cylinder in a garbage truck...

Improperly Vented Experiment Causes Explosion and Burns

June 30, 2008
Office of Environment, Health, and Safety
What Happened?

A graduate student working in a UC Berkeley laboratory was performing a series of evaporation procedures outside of a fume hood using a general-purpose electric pump and a roto-evaporator that had no exhaust equipment. In an effort to make the solvent recovery more efficient, the student applied a vacuum to the condenser tower but quickly turned the pump off because the vacuum was too strong. By that time, the pump exhaust had already formed an explosive mixture of the acetone and ether vapors which ignited when the power shut-off switch was activated, resulting in...

Superconducting Magnet Explosion

July 31, 2008
Office of Environment, Health, and Safety
What Happened?

A 9.4 Tesla superconducting magnet, used for mass spectroscopy in a campus laboratory recently suffered a catastrophic failure. The incident was apparently caused by over-pressurization and failure of the liquid helium (LHe) chamber. Although there were no injuries because the incident occurred during off-hours, the potential for significant injury due to the venting of LHe into the facility was present. There was also significant damage to equipment associated with the magnet.

A magnet achieves superconductivity (zero resistance to electrical current) when it is...