Skip to main content

Laboratory Personnel

This page is intended to provide information about onboarding new lab members, tracking worker training compliance, changing the lab safety supervisor and other topics pertaining to personnel administration.

The Laboratory/Radiation Worker Registration Form is required for all personnel who work in a laboratory environment, regardless of whether they actually handle hazardous materials. Please make sure that all laboratory workers have completed this form and selected the appropriate Principal Investigator. Principal Investigators should select their own name from the drop down menu on the form.

Instructions for completing the worker registration form can be found in Appendix 1-A of the Lab Safety Manual. After submitting this form, personnel should take the Laboratory Environment Orientation online training course. Additional safety training specific to the lab environment will be required. Workers should check their training compliance portal and complete any outstanding safety training courses.

The safety training section of the Environment, Health and Safety (EHS) website provides many training classes that are offered online, as well as information for classes that are instructor-led and the ability to look up your training history.

Principal Investigators can use the Training Compliance Portal to track worker training compliance. Log into this portal to complete required training.

The Safety Training and Medical Surveillance Requirements page illustrates some of the requirements for specific work environments. Please note this table is not inclusive of all training and medical surveillance.

Roles and Responsibilities

  1. Prepare a Laboratory Safety Plan as described in Chapter 2 of the Laboratory Safety Manual. These documents constitute your Chemical Hygiene Plan as required by OSHA.
  2. Ensure that laboratory personnel meet the training requirements of the Laboratory Standard, including chemical hazard information, safety rules and good work practices.
  3. Ensure that staff and visitors observe safety rules and don proper personal protective equipment (PPE) when working in or visiting the laboratory.
  4. Ensure that proper safety supplies and equipment, such as gloves, safety glasses and/or goggles, lab coats and respirators* are available for all people in the laboratory. *Note: if respirators are required, the PI is also responsible for the cost of medical and/or pulmonary function tests that may be required for respirator use.
  5. Obtain safety data sheets for hazardous chemicals used in the laboratory and make these available to the laboratory staff.
  6. Post appropriate hazard information signs within the laboratory.
  7. Provide information to EHS in a timely manner so that it may post appropriate signage at laboratory entrances.
  8. Conduct an “exit interview” with laboratory workers prior to their departure to ensure that they have properly labeled and prepared hazardous materials for disposal by EHS or use by other workers.
  9. Notify EHS prior to vacating laboratory space when moving on campus and notify department chair and EHS of planned departure from UNC or discontinuance of the use of hazardous materials. Decontaminate laboratory surfaces and prepare hazardous materials for disposal by EHS or use by other laboratories. Refer to EHS guidelines on vacating laboratory space.
  10. Provide initial training to laboratory personnel, upon employment, on the contents of the Chemical Hygiene Plan. Employees document this training through the Lab Safety Plan Portal.
  11. Provide annual training to all laboratory employees on the contents of the Chemical Hygiene Plan. Employees document this training through the online Lab Safety Plan application.

Changing the Lab Safety Supervisor

Before leaving the University, outgoing lab safety supervisors should update the safety supervisor listed on the Laboratory Safety Plan. To do this, please log into the Lab Safety Plan Portal, click “Update,” and change the Safety Supervisor listed under the Schedule A form.

If you are a new lab safety supervisor and are unable to update the Lab Safety Plan, please contact EHS.

The Laboratory Safety Plan is submitted, updated and viewed online using your Onyen at the Lab Safety Plan Portal. The online Laboratory Safety Plan includes:

  • Schedule A: Laboratory Project Information
  • The following Schedules if applicable to your laboratory:
    • Schedule B: Hazardous Chemicals
    • Schedule C: Radioactive Materials
    • Schedule D: X-Ray Equipment
    • Schedule E: Lasers
    • Schedule F: Biological Hazards
    • Schedule G: Recombinant DNA Experiments
    • Schedule H: Use of Transgenic Animals or Plants)

Please note that the Schedule B incorporates an online Chemical Inventory System to ensure compliance with state and federal regulatory agencies.

For instructions on adding or removing workers from the Lab Safety Plan, please refer to the Laboratory Safety Plan page.

If you are closing out your laboratory because you are leaving the University, or if you are moving your lab to a different space on campus, please review the slide presentation and closeout procedure checklist on the Laboratory Closeout/Move Instructions page.

Related Topics

Resources

Associated Departments: