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Student Testimonial: Thuong Nguyen

In addition to providing world-class learning opportunities, UC Davis also provides, real-world jobs, for students. Many departments on campus regularly employ students who have little to no prior working experience that are, looking to gain expertise in certain fields or help them to develop soft skills that will prepare them for working life after college.

Recent biological science major graduate, Thuong Nguyen, is one of the many students who worked, and continue to work, at Safety Services.

Lessons Learned: Hexamethyldisilazane Spill

Hexamethyldisilazane Spill Incident Description

EH&S' daily on-call safety specialist received a report that a bottle of hexamethyldisilazane had been dropped and that approximately 500 mL of liquid was on the floor of the lab (not inside a chemical fume hood). The Safety Data Sheet (SDS) lists the hazardous properties of this chemical as highly flammable, toxic in contact with skin, and harmful if inhaled.

Lessons Learned

Record Retention Guidance

In the event of a Cal/OSHA inspection resulting from a reportable injury, employee complaint, or industry sweep, the Cal/OSHA inspector will typically request up to three years of pertinent documents.

What records do you need to maintain?

The University template Injury and Illness Prevention Program (IIPP) and E-IIPP outline exactly what is required. See Section VIII, Recordkeeping and Documentation:

Hazardous Waste Pick-up

While the campus was in suspended operations, EH&S still had access to campus buildings and rooms and continued to provide waste disposal services.

Waste containers that could not be located for pick-up during suspended operations were left in the pick-up queue.

As personnel return to their labs, it will be important to log in to WASTe and review your inventory.

Support for Researchers Working Alone

As research operations increase on campus, researchers may find themselves working alone more often than not.

photos of various hand sanitizer bottles

Don't Use Methanol-based Hand Sanitzer

The FDA warns against using hand sanitizer containing toxic methanol.

The FDA has seen a sharp increase in hand sanitizer products that are labeled to contain ethanol (also known as ethyl alcohol) but that have tested positive for methanol contamination.

Utilities staff configuring the surface water system

Surface Water Curtailment

Surface Water curtailment for the State of California – Important Notice to Laboratories and Users with Special Equipment

On June 5, 2020, the State of California Department of Water Resources enacted Term 91, which is a water curtailment protocol to avoid diversion of surface water in seasonably dry conditions.

Andrew posing with his dog after a successful hunt.

Andrew Majewski is Retiring

In June 2020, Andrew Majewski, EH&S Manager of Health and Safety and Industrial Hygiene, will retire after more than 25 years of service at UC Davis.

Debbie in a floral shirt happy in the Bahamas.

Debbie Decker is Retiring

In June 2020, Debbie Decker, Safety Manager for the Department of Chemistry, will retire after 22 years of service at UC Davis.

Lessons Learned: Beta-mercaptoethanol Spill

Approximately 50 mL of undiluted beta-mercaptoethanol was accidently spilled onto the floor of a laboratory.

Lessons Learned

COVID-19: A Reminder About Reporting Illness

"We wanted to update all of you about what to do if you or someone you know show symptoms of the COVID-19 illness."

Occupational Health

person with hand placed under sanitizer dispenser.

Prevent Hand Sanitizer Burns

You can prevent burns by allowing alcohol-based sanitizers to dry/evaporate before resuming work activity.

Hand sanitizers contain high concentrations of alcohol and alcohol vapors can flame or flash if exposed to an ignition source, switches, or any surface containing static electricity.

person installing hand sanitizer dispenser on wall

Proper Placement of Hand-Sanitizer Dispensers

The California Fire Code has specific requirements when it comes to placing hand-sanitizer dispensers inside or outside a facility.

UC Davis Fire Prevention Services is available to assist with ensuring hand-sanitizer dispensers are installed in a code-compliant manner in rooms and corridors.

Cal/OSHA employees standing next to each other with helmets and masks on.

Cal/OSHA Top Violations 2019

Cal/OSHA recently released the list of the top Occupational Safety and Health (Title 8) Cal/OSHA Violations 2019.

The top ten on this list has not changed much over the last year. The top 5 on the list account for over half of the most cited violations. Violations related to Injury and Illness Prevention Program (IIPP) over the years has remained on the top of the list.

Extra Credit for Lab Safety Award

On March 17th, a directive came from the Office of Research and campus leadership to ramp down all noncritical campus research activities. They issued multiple fact sheets to assist, and even a sample ramp-down checklist.

Safety Services

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