Team:Duke/Safety

Your Training

1. Have your team members received any safety training yet?
• Yes, we have already received safety training.
2. Please briefly describe the topics that you learned about (or will learn about) in your safety training.
• General laboratory safety, including personal protective equipment, proper handling of biological and hazardous waste, proper handling of sharps, use of fume hoods, and emergency procedures. General chemical safety, including identification and labeling of hazards, proper storage and use of common chemicals, regulations regarding more hazardous substances, waste disposal procedures, and basic first aid and emergency procedures. Fire and life safety, including emergency preparedness and policies.
3. Please give a link to the laboratory safety training requirements of your institution (college, university, community lab, etc). Or, if you cannot give a link, briefly describe the requirements.
• Various forms of online and in-person training are required by Duke, depending on the safety levels and hazards you are expected to face. For our purposes, we are required to complete online courses for General Laboratory Safety, General Chemical Safety, and Fire/Life Safety. These courses include online modules and a post-course quiz. A listing of required training is provided here: http://www.safety.duke.edu/Training/training%20reqs%20for%20labs.pdf The training policy is outlined here: http://www.safety.duke.edu/SafetyManuals/University/I_5Training.pdf

Your Local Rules and Regulations

1. Who is responsible for biological safety at your institution? (You might have an Institutional Biosafety Committee, an Office of Environmental Health and Safety, a single Biosafety Officer, or some other arrangement.) Have you discussed your project with them? Describe any concerns they raised, and any changes you made in your project based on your discussion.
• The Duke University and Duke Medicine Occupational and Environmental Safety Office covers safety concerns and compliance. We are working directly within the Buchler and Gersbach labs, which are compliant with and in communication with this office, and we have completed the required safety training that they provide. In addition, all of our work with recombinant DNA has been approved by the Duke Institutional Biosafety Committee.
2. What are the biosafety guidelines of your institution? Please give a link to these guidelines, or briefly describe them if you cannot give a link.
• http://www.safety.duke.edu/SafetyManuals/Lab/Default.htm
3. In your country, what are the regulations that govern biosafety in research laboratories? Please give a link to these regulations, or briefly describe them if you cannot give a link.
• The OSHA governs biosafety at the national level: https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/laboratories/standards.html North Carolina has its own OSHA-approved state plan for laboratory safety: https://www.osha.gov/dcsp/osp/stateprogs/north_carolina.html

Organisms and Parts Used