Laboratory Supervisors and Lab Safety Officers play a critical role in creating and maintaining a safety culture at UVM while ensuring their activities remain in compliance with all federal, state and local regulations.
"PIs are the single most important element for developing and sustaining a strong, proactive laboratory safety culture and must clearly communicate and reinforce to everyone within their groups that safety within their research laboratory is a top priority and define roles, responsibilities, authority and accountability for safety within their laboratory."
- Stanford University Advancing Safety Culture in the University Laboratory
Laboratory Supervisors and Lab Safety Officers play a critical role in creating and maintaining a safety culture at UVM while ensuring their activities remain in compliance with all federal, state and local regulations.
Laboratory Supervisor responsibilities include implementing & following UVM's Lab Safety Program which ensures compliance with OSHA's requirements for a Chemical Hygiene Plan and EPA's requirements for a Laboratory Environmental Management Plan. Laboratory Supervisors are the Chemical Hygiene Officers (CHO) for their laboratories for purposes of complying with OSHA's Standard for Occupational Exposure to Hazardous Chemicals in Laboratories (1910.1450).
Lab Supervisors/CHOs:
The online lab safety training, entitled Laboratory Roles & Responsibilities, specifically addresses the roles and responsibilities of UVM Laboratory Supervisors. All Supervisors are required to complete this training in addition to the safety trainings shown on the Train and Inform Personnel page. While some safety tasks can be delegated to a Laboratory Safety Officer, the Laboratory Supervisor bears the responsibility for carrying out those tasks and ensuring safe laboratory conditions. UVM Risk Management & Safety is available to consult and& provide tools or resources to support safe laboratory work.
A Laboratory Supervisor may designate a Lab Safety Officer (LSO) and delegate authority to that person. The lab safety officer is a part of the lab's quality team. Their role is to improve the lab's safety culture using education, training and coaching, and to complete routine tasks that help ensure safety and compliance. They liaise with Risk Management & Safety and coordinate annual refresher trainings as needed, orient new lab staff as they begin working and complete the required monthly self-inspections of the lab area(s). This allows the Supervisor to support the development of technical and leadership skills within the LSO and to maintain the high values of safety and excellence within the lab group.
Specific duties of the LSO may include the following:
Often, these safety responsibilities are in addition to their normal laboratory research and duties. LSO's may be asled to assist with follow up to a lab audit, conduct incident follow-up and act as safety role model for other lab personnel. Large laboratories might even designate a safety representative for each shift.
UVM often hosts visiting researchers and students within our labs, especially during the summertime months. There are a few actions required of lab supervisors to accommodate this:
Routine laboratory safety audits are conducted by the Risk Management & Safety. The system used to track laboratory audits is called LabcliQ; this system is used by many Colleges and Universities around the country. The questions on the audit are based on the monthly self inspection required by all labs at UVM.
The original audit is sent to the Principal Investigator and the Lab Safety Officer. Labs have two weeks to follow up with any safety deficiencies or concerns noted in the audit. The PI and LSO will receive two reminders if they do not address the audit concerns and login to close out the audit online.
If audit items are not corrected, an third email notificationis automatically sent to the PI, the LSO and it includes the Department Chair. The intent of including the Chair is that they will assist the researcher in resolving the safety issues with RM&S support.
If audit items are still not corrected, a fourth email notification is automatically sent to the PI, LSO, Chair and Dean of the College. It may also include any other necessary contacts. The intent of including the Dean is that they will assist the researcher in resolving the safety issues with RM&S support.