Workplace Safety

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

New Chemical Inventory Requirements

July 12, 2024

Environment, Health and Safety (EH&S) is in the process of tagging all chemicals in all buildings on campus in response to new chemical inventory requirements issued by the UC Office of the President (also see MAQ project page).

Town Halls: Introduction to chemical tagging

EH&S is hotsting virtual town halls throughout the month of July to...

Dust and Debris When Mounting Seismic Wall Bracing

Office of Environment, Health & Safety
2007

Fact Sheet: Procedures to Control Dust and Debris When Mounting Seismic Wall Bracing

Hearing Conservation

EH&S and University Health Services (UHS) together administer a Hearing Conservation Program designed to protect faculty, staff and students from hearing loss due to exposure to loud noise, i.e., exposure to noise above 85 decibels as an eight-hour time-weighted average.

The Hearing Conservation Program includes:

Workplace and personal exposure monitoring Audiometric (hearing) tests Training on the...

Noise: Controlling Your Exposure at Work - Fact Sheet

Office of Environment, Health & Safety
2020

There are several ways to protect against exposure to excessive noise levels. Engineering controls involve changes in the work area or equipment; administrative controls involve changes in work procedures. Usually one or the other provides sufficient protection. The law requires that these controls be considered before employees are made to wear hearing protection. If engineering and administrative controls are not feasible or will not provide adequate protection, hearing protection devices, training, and audiometry must be provided to employees.

Plastic Secondary Container Shatters Due to Dry Ice Sublimation

May 28, 2019
What happened?

A researcher packaged a microgram crystalline sample with dry ice to ensure sample integrity. The crystalline sample was first placed inside a glass vial, which was subsequently housed inside a plastic secondary container with a screw cap. The researcher placed dry ice around the glass vial inside the secondary container before loosely capping the top to vent.

When it came time to take out the glass vial, the researcher found that the secondary container was stuck, even though the cap was originally loosely screwed.

The researcher recruited the help of a staff...

Electrical Safety

Office of Environment, Health & Safety
2021