Safety Policy Statement

This document describes safety policies specific to the Martin C. Jischke Hall of Biomedical Engineering, introduced by the BME Safety Committee and enforced through the School.  These policies are in addition to the general safety rules applicable at the University level. More stringent rules, for a specific work area that all users would be subject to, may be put in place by concerned faculty.

  1. Chemical/biological/produced materials are not allowed in office spaces (not even small samples).
  2. Coats/bags/backpacks are not allowed in the laboratories - store them in your assigned sitting areas. Undergraduate students and short-term visitors performing research in BME laboratories, who do not have desk space assigned, should leave their items on the hooks in the graduate student sitting areas. Please contact Susan Hardy (hardy13@purdue.edu) for assistance in this regard.
  3. Food and drinks are not allowed in the laboratory areas.
  4. Headphones, including earbuds, are not to be worn in the laboratories, unless they are used as personal protective equipment.
  5. Safety/protective gloves (e.g., nitrile) may NOT be worn in any public areas, including offices, conference rooms, classrooms, stairwells, elevators, computer labs, lounges, restrooms, the Atrium, etc. Gloves are not to leave the laboratory block under any circumstances. Unglove and dispose of gloves properly each time you leave the lab block, and re-glove with clean gloves each time you return.
  6. Transporting materials between labs:
    • All material must be transported in sealed primary containers (both hazardous and non-hazardous chemical/biological/produced material).
    • Secondary containment must be used when transporting hazardous materials between labs. The secondary containment, such as a bucket, tray, or cart, must be capable of containing at least 1.5 times the volume of the material transported.
    • Hazardous (flammable, acidic, caustic, bio-hazard, etc.) material handling must be defined in the lab-specific procedures manual and in standard operating procedures (SOPs).
    • Transportation of hot/cold material requires a written SOP.
    • NO laboratory materials are to be transported via the MJIS passenger elevator, which is external to the laboratory block, or via any of the public stairwells. All research/laboratory material should be transported via the MJIS freight elevator.
  7. Lab coats should not be worn/stored in offices
  8. Bicycles are not allowed in the building. Skateboards must be carried (and not ridden) in the building.
  9. All "near misses" and safety incidents must be reported internally to the PI of the lab, and then to the Safety Committee Chair (currently Bill Schoenlein) and the Building Deputy (Susan Hardy).