The Guide to Business and Continuity and Recovery Planning for Laboratories and Research Facilities was developed to help laboratory managers, principal investigators, responsible parties, and others, develop a business continuity plan to help ensure that vital research operations can continue following a disaster or major disruption.
The University is committed to maintaining a healthy and safe environmental for learning, teaching and conducting research. Executive Order 55 gives authority to the Environmental Health & Safety (EH&S) to conduct safety surveys and inspections in University teaching and research laboratories.
Following the announcement of the Seattle Police Department’s preventable fire alarm initiative (that will result in fines for false alarms starting January 1, 2020), EH&S has fielded concerns about whether a fire alarm should be trigged when a fire is not present.
On December 9, 2019, EH&S hosted the Laboratory Safety Awards & Innovation Event to share new practices developed to enhance the culture of safety in UW research and teaching labs. Executive Director of Health Sciences Administration, Dave Anderson gave the opening speech, and Katia Harb, Senior Director of EH&S, gave the closing remarks. Research leaders presented innovations instated in their labs and departments to improve safety practices and safety training completion.
There are multiple models of biological safety cabinets (BSCs) at the UW that Environmental Health & Safety (EH&S) has identified as obsolete.
Visit the Biological Safety Cabinets page for more information.