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Room Signs

Each laboratory has a room sign that provides safety information to visitors and housekeeping personnel (see Figure 1). The principal investigator is responsible for assuring that appropriate warning information is included on this sign. Signs will be made by the Office of Environmental Health and Radiation Safety.

The sign is composed of four sections. Section one contains the room number and department name. Section two includes the names of the researchers. Section three provides warning information to visitors and housekeeping personnel. Special labels are available that are placed into the boxes of this section. The labels contain icons alerting the reader that one of the following conditions exists inside the laboratory:

  • CAUTION-BIOHAZARD
  • CAUTION-DESIGNATED AREA WITHIN
  • CAUTION-RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
  • CAUTION-LASER
  • CAUTION-MAGNETIC FIELD
  • CAUTION-DESIGNATED AREA LABORATORY

Section four provides safety department phone numbers.

Students, faculty, staff and administrators shall not enter a designated area of a lab unless they are familiar with the facility or accompanied by an authorized user of the facility.

Custodians are permitted to enter restricted or designated areas to perform routine tasks. However, labeled waste containers, other research equipment or materials, must not be handled.

Other support services, such as: University Police, Physical Plant, Safety Personnel, etc., are permitted to enter a designated areas. Support services should avoid disturbing the following areas:

  • fume hoods
  • biological safety cabinets
  • sinks
  • placarded equipment
  • chemicals or materials on laboratory benches

Support personnel shall contact an authorized user of the facility or EHRS before performing work that may involve any of the above items. Contact EHRS if emergency response or service is required in a designated area or in a designated area laboratory.

Immediately report any unusual conditions to EHRS or University Police, such as:

  • spills
  • leaks
  • fires
  • injury
  • contamination

Figure 1 Laboratory Room sign

Example Room Sign

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