Safety

1. Labeling: Anything that leaves your bench MUST be labeled with your name. This means there should be nothing in incubators, refrigerators, freezers, or other common areas.

2. Eating: There is to be NO eating or drinking in RHPH G12. Use the student lounge at G51 for lunch or break.

3. MSDS Sheets: Our MSDS sheets are kept in the chemical cabinet.

4. Personal Protective Equipment (lab coat, safety glasses, gloves, NO open toe shoes, NO short pants or skirt) should be used at all times you are doing experiments.

5. In general, safety glasses should be worn at all times. You may work without them when there is an extra protection (e.g., a glass shield in BSC). However, you must wear them in operating the homogenizer, which spins at high speed and can splash liquid. There is also a possibility that some part of the shaft will come off and fly at really high speed.

1. Do not use the passenger elevator when you move anything related to experiments (this includes distilled water).

2. Do not touch anything outside the lab with gloves on.

3. For using MCMP equipment and facilities (including the water purifier, autoclaves, and handling compressed gas cylinders): Get training at College of Pharmacy tech support. You need to submit the training request.

4. For using IPPH equipment and facilities, find individual personnel in charge and get approval/training.

Definition

• Non-sharp solids include paper, gloves, and plastic.

• Sharp solids include glass, broken glass, and Pasteur pipettes.

• Needles and razor blades are separately collected from glass sharps. They will go to the red biomedical biohazard sharp containers (plastic).

General Sharp Waste

1. All non-chemically contaminated sharps are disposed of in the designated sharps containers. 

• Non-sharp solids: to a designated plastic container.

• Sharp solids: to a designated glass container.

• Needles, razor blades: to the red biomedical biohazard sharp container (plastic).

2. When full, these containers should be sealed completely with heavy-duty tapes.

3. The sealed solid wastes should be left in the hallway (< 1 cube) or at the dock (> 1 cube) for pick-up.

Chemical Waste

1. Liquids: All hazardous liquid waste must be labeled at the time when the waste is first put in the container. You must use the orange hazardous waste disposal labels provided by the REM.

2. Solids

• If it is possible to decontaminate using a cleaning agent, decontaminate the solids and handle them as General Sharps Waste.

• If not decontaminatable, collect separately in a separate container. Chemically contaminated needles and razor blades should be collected in a separate plastic container. Call the REM for pick up.

3. Empty containers: must be triple rinsed with a solvent capable of removing the original material and labeled with stickers provided by the REM.

4. When containers are full, label them with orange hazardous waste disposal labels, and schedule a waste pickup at the Chemical pickup request.

Biohazard Waste

1. Liquids (supernatant, media, cultures): Bleach for 10-20 minutes and pour down the sink.

2. Solids

• Non-sharp solids: Place in biohazardous waste autoclave bags and autoclave. Once the waste has been autoclaved, the autoclave bags should be taped or tied shut and placed inside the cardboard box provided by REM. Tape shut the full box.

• Sharp solids (pipette tips, disposable plastic pipettes): Discard in the waste container next to the biosafety cabinet (left side). 

• Glass pasteur pipettes: Discard in the short glass disposal box in the right corner of the biosafety cabinet.

• Needles, blades: Discard in the red biomedical biohazard sharps containers. 

3. Complete BIOMATERIALS PICKUP REQUEST, indicate waste category 1 or 2, and call 40121 to schedule a pickup.

1. Complete the REM Lab Safety Fundamentals (LSF) module and email it to Mary Ellen. 

• https://www.purdue.edu/ehps/rem/training/index.html

• Scroll down the L section for Lab Safety Fundamentals (LSF) 

• The REM LSF training covers chemical safety.  

• You will need your BoilerKey or your Purdue Career Account to set up your REM training account prior to accessing the REM on-line Lab Safety Fundamentals (LSF) training.  

• As soon as you complete your REM Lab Safety Fundamentals training then e-mail a copy of your REM Lab Safety Fundamentals certificate to mhurt@purdue.edu

2. Read through REM’s Biosafety Level 2 SOP training document at:

• https://www.purdue.edu/ehps/rem/documents/sops/sopbsl2.docx

• then email Mary Ellen Hurt at mhurt@purdue.edu that you have read this document. 

3. Discuss specific lab PPE with Prof. Yeo and sign the PPE sheet kept in her office.