The OSHA Lab Standard (29 CFR 1910.1450) ensures that employees are protected from chemical hazards. Employees and supervisors each have responsibilities to conform to this standard.

Lab Supervisors have the following duties:

1. Provide chemical safety information and training.

   Training must be done prior to initial assignment and whenever new exposure situations arise. Documentation is highly recommended.

   Information which must be provided to each employee includes:

   a. The OSHA Lab Standard "Occupational Exposures to Hazardous Chemicals in Laboratories" 29 CFR Part 1910.1450.

   b. Chemical Hygiene Plan.

   c. Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) and other reference material. These references must include Permissible Exposure Limits (PELS) or Threshold Limit Values (TLVs), and signs and symptoms associated with exposure.

   Employees must be trained in:

   a. Detection methods and observations of a release of the chemical.

   b. Physical and health hazards associated with the chemical.

   c. The work practices, emergency procedures and personal protective equipment to be used for protection against overexposure.

   Note that MSDSs will provide PELs, TLVs, detection methods, physical and health hazards, and necessary personal protective equipment.

2. Implement and enforce health and safety rules for your lab.

This includes ensuring that all employees are complying with the Standard.

3. Enforce the use and availability of appropriate personal protective equipment.

All University employees (supervisors and lab personnel) are responsible for the following:

1. Remaining cognizant of chemicals used in the lab.

   Knowing the hazards associated with the chemical and ensuring they are stored and disposed of properly.

2. Request assistance from the Center for Environmental Health and Safety.

We can provide MSDSs, answer health and safety questions, air monitoring, ventilation hood problems, asbestos, waste disposal, radiation and biohazards.

All laboratories that use hazardous chemicals must implement a   Chemical Hygiene Plan. Responsibilities relating to the development  and implementation of individual laboratory plans and guidance for the development of those plans are covered in a general plan  for the campus as a whole.

A laboratory that utilizes hazardous chemicals* must implement a Chemical Hygiene Plan. This requirement is based on the Federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s "Occupational Exposures to Hazardous Chemicals in Laboratories" standard, which is enforced on this campus by the Illinois Department of Labor. The Chemical Hygiene Plan must include the following eight subjects:

1. Standard operating procedures;

2. Criteria to determine and implement specific control measures such as engineering controls and personal protective equipment;

3. A requirement that ventilation hoods and other engineering controls be functioning properly;

4. Information and training requirements;

5. A description of the circumstances under which a particular laboratory operation will require prior approval from the employer;

6. Provisions for medical consultation and medical exams;

7. Designation of a chemical hygiene officer; and

8. Provisions for additional protection for work with select carcinogens, reproductive toxins, and substances with a high degree of active toxicity, including the establishment of a designated area, the use of containment devices, procedures for safe removal of wastes, and decontamination procedures.

A general Chemical Hygiene Plan for the University as a whole has been prepared by the Hazardous Waste Oversight Advisory Committee and was adopted by the full committee on April 27, 1992. Copies of this Plan and the OSHA Lab Standards are available from the Center for Environmental Health and Safety. The Plan may be adopted unchanged by a laboratory; however, it may be necessary to add components to the plan that are specific to an individual laboratory.

Further information concerning this policy statement should be directed to the Center for Environmental Health and Safety, Biological and Chemical Management Section.

*A hazardous chemical as defined by OSHA is "a chemical for which there is a statistically significant evidence based on at least one study conducted in accordance with established scientific principals that acute or chronic health effects may occur in exposed employees."