4.19 Research Area Inspections
Laboratories and other research areas are regulated by OSHA laboratory safety standards and general industry regulations, EPA and DEC hazardous waste regulations, DOH regulations, NFPA life and fire safety standards, and building codes. Additionally, accreditation and granting agencies such as CDC, NIH, and USDA are increasing scrutiny over researchers and their compliance with state and federal laws. To assist researchers to be in compliance with these regulations and standards, Environmental Health & Safety (EHS) will conduct required inspections of all campus research areas.
The purpose of the inspections is to assist responsible faculty and staff members in identifying and correcting potential regulatory compliance issues or other issues that could affect granting activities, and identify potential health and safety hazards that could pose an unreasonable risk to laboratory personnel, students, and the campus community. To facilitate the correction of deficient items, a corrective action process has been implemented and will be tracked. EHS will schedule inspections by working with college-level contacts, Department Safety Representatives, Building Coordinators and staff throughout the colleges, departments, and buildings.
Research areas are strongly encouraged to conduct their own self inspections prior to EHS conducting an inspection of their research area to address any potential issues before the EHS inspection and to provide a training opportunity for research staff. To facilitate the self inspection process, EHS is providing research areas with the following self inspection checklist and explanation key which identify the same topics covered during an EHS inspection.