Laboratory Safety Program

Laboratory Safety Program

The Laboratory Safety Program assist Principal Investigators (PIs) and lab managers with the development of a comprehensive safety program to reduce the risk of injury to laboratory workers. Elements of a comprehensive lab safety program include:

  • Completion of a department-level Accident Prevention Program
  • Effective implementation of provisions of the WSU Tri-Cities Laboratory Safety Manual
  • Completion of lab-specific Chemical Hygiene Plan(s) and Standard Operating Procedures
  • Development and implementation of other safety & health programs, as necessary based on information in the above plans and procedures
  • Systematic assessment of hazards within each laboratory, and implementation of protective measures

The following links include fillable PDF templates for Accident Prevention Programs and Chemical Hygiene Plans.  Provide an electronic copy of each document to EHS at ehs@tricity.wsu.edu when completed. Contact EHS at 372-7163 for assistance with completion of any of these documents.

Accident Prevention Program
Chemical Hygiene Plan(s)

Researchers planning to work on new projects should complete a lab procedure proposal, using the template below.  This provides a brief summary of the process and its associated hazards.  Upon completion, send the template to ehs@tricity.wsu.edu for review.  Based on the identified hazards and controls, EH&S may recommend completion of a full SOP, including a more detailed evaluation of hazards.  Many procedures can be approved based only on the procedure proposal.

During spring of 2016, staff in Pullman and Tri-Cities worked to re-develop a new template for laboratory Standard Operating Procedures. This new template includes a basic hazard assessment and identification of protective measures, including PPE, combining these requirements into a single document and reducing the need to maintain multiple separate documents for each procedure. This is now the standard template for use at WSU Tri-Cities, and all existing procedures should be converted to the new template upon their next revision.
Completed SOPs should be reviewed by a peer familiar with the process, and by the PI responsible for the laboratory where the experiment will be conducted. They must then be submitted for review by the lab manager (where applicable), the Unit-level Safety Committee, and EHS.
NOTE: If an experiment is being conducted directly under a procedure provided by an outside, regulatory agency, that procedure may be used as the SOP, provided that it includes, or is accompanied by, a hazard assessment and PPE evaluation which provides suitable protection to employees conducting the experiment.

Lab Procedure Proposal
Standard Operating Procedures (new template)