Environment, Health & Safety

Stanley Hall Building Emergency Plan (BEP) is the building safety document that outlines emergency procedures, contact information, maps of evacuation routes and the Emergency Assembly Area, and other related building and campus emergency information. Cal/OSHA requires all occupants of Stanley Hall to have documented training on this BEP.

New Employee Safety Training

Indoor Heat Illness Prevention Plan

Office of Environment, Health & Safety

Biological Safety

Manage and update Biological Use Authorization (BUA). View deadlines for review by the Committee for Laboratory and Environmental Biosafety.

Chemical Safety

Manage and update chemical inventory. Access Safety Data Sheets (SDS) for chemicals.

Laser Safety

Manage and update Laser Use Authorization (LUA). Registration for various laser types and vendors providing safety equipment.

Radiation Safety

Manage and update Radiation Use Authorization (RUA). Licensing and procedures required for safely handling radioactive materials and radiation-producing machines. 

Hazardous Materials

Manage and dispose of hazardous waste including chemicals, biohazardous waste, radioactive waste, and sharps.

Shipping Research

Manage dangerous good shipping and transportation by ground, air, and sea, including chemical, radioactive, biological materials, and perishables. 

Report Workplace Safety Concerns

Report Work-Related Injury or Illness

A computer ergonomic self-assessment module is available on RSS. Log in with your campus sign-on credentials. For help beyond the RSS self-assessment and UHS online resources on laboratory ergonomics, email opal@berkeley.edu to schedule an appointment for an in-person evaluation.

Emergency Contact

Each lab should designate an emergency contact and at least one more backup contact. List individuals who are available via phone (call or text) 24/7 and can take on responsibilities during an emergency, like shutting down equipment or moving research to an unaffected location. Building management makes an annual call to update emergency contacts on record, but labs should ensure their information is current year-round, especially when there are staff changes.

Power Outage

If a power outage occurs:

1. Stop research activities. 
2. Perform shutdown procedures if they can be done safely: shut down equipment, close sashes on fume hoods and biosafety cabinets, keep doors fully closed on freezers and fridges, turn off natural gas, etc.
3. Evacuate the building. 
4. Report the outage as a maintenance emergency.
5. Resume occupancy of building only when notified by emergency responders, campus emergency management team, or local building management.

Stanley Hall is equipped with an emergency generator to support some building services for a limited time. Most labs also have outlets on the building’s emergency generator to power critical equipment. These outlets have a label that identifies a panel name including “LEQ” and usually have a red cover plate. Only plug in your most critical equipment to these outlets. Supply of backup power by the generator is limited.

The transfer process from the detection of normal power loss to switch on the generator can take anywhere from 10 to 60 seconds. For sensitive electronics and instruments, labs should purchase appropriately sized surge protectors and/or uninterruptible power supply (UPS) systems for protection. For help identifying outlets on emergency generator or selecting/sizing  UPS systems, email qb3stanley@berkeley.edu.

Wildfire Smoke

Stanley Hall’s mechanical ventilation does not run air in recirculating mode, but it has filtration that is considered effective by EPA at capturing particles, including fine particulate matter (PM2.5) found in wildfire smoke. While the air filters reduce smoke pollution indoors, they do not absorb or remove odor. Adding carbon filters or upgrading to higher efficiency filters is not suitable for the building’s HVAC systems due to airflow restrictions.

Office of Emergency Management

Learn more about how the campus prepares to respond to potential hazards.

Examples of shared lab space in Stanley Hall:

• Autoclave/Glasswasher Rooms: These are unassigned and used by all labs within the building.
• Cold/Warm Rooms: These are unassigned and generally used by labs on the same floor or floors immediately above or below.
• Equipment Rooms: These are assigned to multiple labs for housing refrigerators, freezers, incubators, centrifuges, etc.
• Tissue Culture Rooms: These are assigned based on space availability and research compatibility. Space assignments are not permanent. As such, any room may be reassigned as programmatic needs and priorities change.

Common challenges in these shared spaces:

• poor general housekeeping 
• accumulation of unneeded or dated samples/chemicals/supplies  
• equipment or materials not properly labeled, stored, or disposed of

Rules for labs using shared space:

• Each Principal Investigator must either be or name someone as the main contact for housekeeping and resolving safety issues. 
• All equipment and supplies must be clearly labeled for easy identification. 
• Together perform a self-inspection and cleanout of the shared lab space at least annually, or more frequently if the room is heavily used. 
• Labs are highly encouraged to share equipment to make the most of available space. When direct equipment sharing is not possible, labs are expected to collaborate and make reasonable efforts to share the available space equitably.
• Labs are expected to share costs for fixing inspection findings and routine cleaning/decontamination. While an equal split is most straightforward, labs can collectively decide on a different split based on usage or other parameters.

Additional rules for shared tissue culture rooms:

• Take turns testing the eyewash.
• Wipe down surfaces before and after each use of the hood.
• Set up a calendar or some system to coordinate use.
• Post update signs at the door indicating hazards in the space and emergency contact information.

The Stanley Hall Safety Committee meets quarterly on the second Wednesday of March, June, September, and December, from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

This committee functions as both Stanley Hall building safety committee and QB3 department safety committee, serving as a forum for all safety-related issues. Safety representatives from each workgroup (laboratory, core facility, administrative unit, etc.) are required to attend each meeting or send a delegate.

Topics include incident reviews, lessons learned, updates on EH&S training and programs, and findings from safety inspections. To suggest topics, email opal@berkeley.edu.