The Departmental Safety Advisory Group met on November 16th, 2018. Important items discussed at that meeting are shown below. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Michael W. Burand (DSAG chair) or any other member of the Group for assistance.
Serious Chemical Spill? Call Public Safety, not EHS
OSU’s Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) reminds all personnel in the Department of Chemistry that in the event of a chemical spill that cannot be safely cleaned without outside assistance, they should call Public Safety at 7-7000. Public Safety will contact EHS directly as needed.
Welcome to Tom Doyle, Director, EHS
The Departmental Safety Advisory Group welcomes its newest member, Thomas (Tom) Doyle. Tom recently became the director of EHS and has offered to join Dan Kermoyan to serve as an EHS representative to the Group. The Group looks forward to Tom’s input and the continuing partnership between the Department of Chemistry and EHS.
Required Chemical Safety Seminar for First-Year Graduate Students
First-year graduate students are reminded to register for CH 607, Chemical Safety Seminar (Section 010, CRN 32393) for the upcoming winter term. The first class meeting will be at 12:00 in Wiegand 132 on January 7, 2019. Thanks to a grant for course development from OSU’s Center for Teaching and Learning, CH 607 will now be offered as a hybrid course.
Reminder: Required Procedures for Accident Reporting
The University requires that all accidents involving injury are formally reported within 24 hours of the incident. The forms are available via the Departmental webpage: Research > Safety Web > Accident Reporting or may be accessed directly via:
http://chemsafety.chem.oregonstate.edu/content/accident-reporting
It should be noted that when working as a TA in a teaching laboratory, the TA is considered an employee—not a student—and thus should complete the SAIF 801 form also available via the link above.
Reminder: Approval of Outreach Events
Please note that a formal approval is required for all outreach activities involving any kind of chemical experiment/demonstration. The form (and a sample version) may be found here: https://chemsafety.chem.oregonstate.edu/content/approval-outreach-events
The form may also be accessed directly via the Department of Chemistry website via Research > Safety Web > Outreach. It must be submitted at least two weeks prior to the event to guarantee review in time for the event.
Reminder: Safety Requirements for Chemistry Teaching Laboratories
The Group has adopted a two-tier system for teaching laboratory safety requirements to better clarify situations depending on what activities are taking place in the laboratory.
Case Requirements
1. Any wet chemistry is taking place anywhere within the laboratory (including the washing of glassware, etc.):
All students must wear closed shoes and be dressed such that there is absolutely no exposed skin below the waist. Students shall wear a laboratory coat and goggles. No food or drink is allowed in the laboratory at any time.
2. The laboratory is being used as a classroom (for example, for student presentations) and no wet chemistry is taking place anywhere within the laboratory:
All students must wear closed shoes and be dressed such that there is absolutely no exposed skin below the waist. No food or drink is allowed in the laboratory at any time.
As always, students should consult the instructor of record if they have any questions about meeting the standards for attire. Instructors are reminded that the above are minimum requirements; it is up to the instructor to determine if additional requirements, such as gloves or heavy denim pants, are to be required.
