EH&S Resources

CSB Investigation on Lab Accidents at Universities

In October 2011, the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) issued a report on their investigation of a chemistry lab explosion that occurred at Texas Tech University. The report also highlighted key findings from other serious accidents that occurred at various universities, including the tragic death of a student at UCLA in 2009 that resulted in felony charges against the UC Board of Regents and the Principal Investigator of the lab. The CSB created a video presentation on their investigation entitled “Experimenting with Danger”. Links to the CSB Investigation Report and the video are provided below.

USF Laboratory Safety Procedures

USF Environmental Health & Safety would like to emphasize the following safety procedures, to ensure that your laboratories are safe and compliant.

• Ensure that all laboratory personnel attend the EH&S Laboratory Safety training on an annual basis. An online refresher is also available through the USF Blackboard portal. To register for training, please follow the link, https://ehs.usf.edu/trainee_signin.a5w?session.umode=trainee.
• Ensure that all laboratory personnel have received research-specific training on standard operating procedures (SOPs) for hazardous materials and equipment, including the safety precautions that should be taken. Be sure to keep documentation of the training provided. An SOP Template is available through the following link, http://usfweb2.usf.edu/eh&s/labsafety/SOPTemplate.doc. Additionally, you can find chemical-specific SOPs on our website that can be used if it applies to your labs through the following link, http://usfweb2.usf.edu/eh&s/labsafety/lsafetyforms.html.
• Ensure that all laboratory incidents or near-misses are reported to EH&S within 24 hours. A laboratory incident reporting form is available through the following link, http://usfweb2.usf.edu/eh&s/labsafety/LabIncident.html.

Please contact EH&S at 813-974-4036, if you have any questions.

CSB Links

CSB Investigation Report
CSB video “ Experimenting with Danger”