It is the responsibility of Principal Investigators and laboratory supervisors to ensure that personnel working in laboratories under their control are familiar with the contents and location of the Chemical Hygiene Plan, including any lab specific standard operating procedures and any department or college level laboratory safety manuals, policies, and procedures. (Section 1.1)
It is the responsibility of the Principal Investigator and individual supervisors (and individuals working under their supervision) to be in compliance with the components of the University Chemical Hygiene Plan, the University Health and Safety Policy, and any other department or University specific policies. (Section 1.2)
It is the responsibility of laboratory personnel to immediately report malfunctioning protective equipment, such as fume hoods, or mechanical problems to their Building Coordinator as soon as any malfunctions are discovered. (Section 2.1)
Principal Investigators, laboratory supervisors, departments and colleges are free to set policies that establish minimum PPE requirements for personnel working in and entering their laboratories. Be sure to check with your DSR to see if there are any department or college specific requirements for PPE. (Section 3.1)
It is the responsibility of the Principal Investigator or laboratory supervisor to ensure laboratory staff have received the appropriate training on the selection and use of proper PPE, that proper PPE is available and in good condition, and laboratory personnel use proper PPE when working in laboratories under their supervision. (Section 3.2)
It is the responsibility of Principal Investigators and laboratory supervisors to make use of eye protection a mandatory requirement for all laboratory personnel, including visitors, working in or entering laboratories under their control. (Section 3.3)
EHS strongly recommends that Principal Investigators and laboratory supervisors discourage the wearing of shorts and skirts in laboratories using hazardous materials (chemical, biological, and radiological) by laboratory personnel, including visitors, working in or entering laboratories under their supervision. (Section 3.5)
EHS strongly encourages Principal Investigators and laboratory supervisors to require the use of closed toed shoes for all laboratory personnel, including visitors, working in or entering laboratories and laboratory support areas under their supervision. (Section 3.8)
It is the responsibility of the Principal Investigator and laboratory supervisor to ensure that personnel working in laboratories under their supervision are informed and follow laboratory specific, departmental, and campus wide policies and procedures related to laboratory safety – such as the guidelines and requirements covered in this Laboratory Safety Manual. (Section 4.0)
It is the responsibility of the Principal Investigator and laboratory supervisor to ensure written SOPs incorporating health and safety considerations are developed for work involving the use of hazardous chemicals in laboratories under their supervision and that PPE and engineering controls are adequate to prevent overexposure. In addition, Principal Investigators and laboratory supervisors must ensure that personnel working in laboratories under their supervision have been trained on those SOPs. (Section 4.1)
It is the responsibility of Principal Investigators and laboratory supervisors to ensure laboratories under their supervision are maintained in a clean and orderly manner and personnel working in the lab practice good housekeeping. (Section 4.4)
It is the responsibility of Principal Investigators and laboratory supervisors to ensure procedures for working alone are developed and followed by personnel working in laboratories under their supervision. (Section 4.7)
It is the responsibility of Principal Investigators and laboratory supervisors to ensure procedures for unattended operations are developed and followed by personnel working in laboratories under their supervision. (Section 4.9)
It is the responsibility of the Department Chairperson, Principal Investigators, and laboratory supervisors to restrict access of visitors and children to areas under their supervision when potential health and physical hazards exist. (Section 4.10.1)
It is the responsibility of the Principal Investigator and individual supervisors to ensure research areas under their supervision have been registered using the online HASP program. (Section 4.19)
It is the responsibility of laboratory personnel to activate (flush) emergency showers and eyewash units on a regular basis. (Section 5.5.1)
It is the responsibility of the Principal Investigator and laboratory supervisor to ensure all injuries are reported to University officials through the use of the Cornell University injury/illness reporting system. (Section 5.6)
It is the responsibility of Principal Investigators and laboratory supervisors to ensure personnel working in laboratories under their supervision have been provided with the proper training, have received information about the hazards in the laboratory they may encounter, and have been informed about ways they can protect themselves. (Section 6.0)
It is the responsibility of the Principal Investigator and laboratory supervisor to ensure that staff and students under their supervision are provided with adequate training and information specific to the hazards found within their laboratories. (Section 7.2.1)
It is the responsibility of Principal Investigators and laboratory supervisors to ensure that staff and students working in laboratories under their supervision have obtained required health and safety training and have access to SDSs (and other sources of information) for all hazardous chemicals used in laboratories under their supervision. (Section 7.3)
While EHS can provide assistance in identifying circumstances when there should be prior approval before implementation of a particular laboratory operation, the ultimate responsibility of establishing prior approval procedures lies with the Principal Investigator or laboratory supervisor. (Section 9.5)
It is the responsibility of the Principal Investigator and laboratory supervisor to ensure that personnel working in laboratories under their supervision are familiar with and follow hazardous chemical waste container requirements and have attended EHS Chemical Waste Disposal training. (Section 10.1)
It is the responsibility of the Principal Investigator or laboratory supervisor to ensure any employee working under their supervision who ships or prepare shipments of hazardous materials have received the proper training. (Section 11.0)
The responsibility for ensuring that all work with pesticides at Cornell is conducted properly and legally rests on the individual user. (Section 12.0)
When using pesticides in a non-dispersive manner in a laboratory setting, an individual must follow the safety rules outlined in the Cornell University Laboratory Safety Manual. (Section 12.1.1)
It is the responsibility of the Principal Investigator or laboratory supervisor to ensure biological safety cabinets within laboratories under their supervision are certified annually. (Section 13.5.1)
It is the responsibility of the Principal Investigator or laboratory supervisor with class 3b or 4 LASERs in laboratories under their supervision to ensure the class 3b or 4 LASERs have been registered with EHS and employees using these LASERs have received the appropriate training. (Section 15.0)
It is the responsibility of the Principal Investigator and laboratory supervisor to ensure that staff and students in laboratories under their supervision are provided with adequate training and information specific to the physical hazards found within their laboratories. (Section 16.0)
