Knight:Safety
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People
You need to know these people's names for the Level III inspections.
- EHS representative: Reshma Shetty (rshetty AT mit)
- EHS coordinator: Anthony Zolnick (anthony AT csail)
- EHS lead contact: Carolyn S. Stahl, SM(NRM), CBSP (csstahl AT mit)
Carolyn S. Stahl, SM(NRM), CBSP
Senior Biosafety Officer
MIT Environment, Health and Safety Office
77 Mass Ave. N52-496
Cambridge, MA 02139-4307
phone: 617-253-5564
fax: 617-258-6831
Information and training
See Heather's very complete explanation of all the safety training you need to do. The only adjustments for the Knight lab are that you should read the CSAIL chemical hygiene plan (not the Biology one) and you should do the Knight lab specific chemical training. Both of these are linked below.
General safety resources
Much of the labs safety references including MSDS's (Material Safety Data Sheets) are kept on the short bookshelves in the hallway between 32-311 and 32-321.
Heather has written up a lot of useful safety information here.
EHS course materials can be found at http://web.mit.edu/environment/training/materials.html
CSAIL emergency preparedness plan
Emergency Preparedness Materials
- includes floor evacuation maps and an explanation of the Stata Alarm system
CSAIL chemical hygiene plan
Everyone in the lab has to read through the CSAIL Chemical Hygiene Plan. It is linked below and also available as a paper copy on the shelves in the hallway between 32-311 and 32-321. To make changes to the document, contact Meagan Lizarazo.
CSAIL Chemical Hygiene Plan <--Read and familiarize yourself with this.
(Template from Barry Mendes, EHS, x3-1665. Modified and extended by Meagan.)
Once you've read this document, print and sign the compliance form. Give this to Meagan to be sent via campus mail to the EHS lead contact Carolyn Stahl.
Lab chemical training
If you've never had lab specific chemical training before, have Tom or Reshma take you through it. For renewal training (done on a yearly basis), you can just read through the lab specific chemical training linked below. It is also available as a paper copy on the bulletin board outside 32-306 and on the shelves in the hallway between 32-311 and 32-321. If you have any questions or want to suggest modifications, talk to Reshma.
Lab specific chemical training <--Read and familiarize yourself with this.
(Template from Kathleen Gilbert, EHS, x3-8409. Modified and extended by Reshma.)
Once you've completed this training, print and sign the compliance form. Give this to Reshma to be sent via campus mail to the EHS lead contact Carolyn Stahl.
Procedures
MIT's standard operating procedures on a variety of topics can be found at the EHS SOPs, SOG, Fact Sheets, Programs, etc. site.
Safety checks
- Autoclave validation
- Level I checklist
- Level II inspection
- Table of chemical abbreviations (warning: downloadable word doc) - must be posted in the lab so that you can use common abbreviations on bottle labels (like EtOH and TE etc.). This is for emergency personnel who might need to know what a particular bottle contains but don't know the abbreviation and so need to look it up.
Waste disposal
Some brief instructions on how to properly dispose of waste in the lab.
Chemical storage
Acetic acid and other organic acids
From Kathleen Gilbert, EHS, x3-8409
Acetic acid is tricky because it is an organic acid that is ignitable and it is more compatible with other organic flammables than with inorganic acids. Acetic acid can be stored with the flammables in a flammable cabinet without a secondary container. If Acetic acid is stored with inorganic acids, it should be in a separate secondary container since it is incompatible with inorganic acids. Trifluoracetic acid is also an organic acid so the same rules apply as with acetic acid.
You do not need the acids stored in a closed [secondary] container. A gray bin is fine.