Workplace Safety | UW Environmental Health & Safety

2023 Hepatitis A outbreak associated with frozen organic strawberries

June 9, 2023

June 9, 2023 - This recall has been expanded to include select Wawona Frozen Foods Organic Daybreak Blend frozen fruit blend packages that were distributed in Washington state Costco stores between April 15 and June 26, 2022. The affected product lots are no longer available for purchase. Costco has begun contacting members who have a purchase history of the affected products.

Individuals can continue to follow the consumer guidance included in the March 2023 recall advisory (below).

Historical COVID-19 Dashboard

COVID-19 case counts were based on cases reported to UW Environmental Health & Safety (EH&S), including results from the Husky Coronavirus Testing program. Therefore, the information on this page did not include all cases of COVID-19 among UW community members. The case count excluded UW Medicine medical facility employees and persons not affiliated with the University.

Salmonella outbreak likely linked to raw cookie dough

May 23, 2023

The Washington State Department of Health is working with local and federal public health partners to investigate cases of Salmonella likely linked to consuming raw chocolate chip cookie dough and raw s’mores bars dough from Papa Murphy’s Take ‘N’ Bake Pizza from multiple locations in Washington state. The company has discontinued selling the raw cookie dough products nationally at this time.

Updated Respiratory Protection Program Manual now available

May 9, 2023

An updated April 2023 version of the UW Respiratory Protection Program Manual is now available online.

New Nanomaterials, Chloroform and Metallic Lead SOP Templates

April 24, 2023

Visit the EH&S’s Chemical SOPs page to find new standard operating procedures (SOP) templates for nanomaterials, chloroform, and metallic lead.

Guidelines for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

The Guidelines for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is designed to help University departments, organizations, units, and supervisors to assess their workplace, select the right equipment, train employees and document this work.

New box cutter safety guidance

April 13, 2023

A new focus sheet that describes how to use box cutters safely is now available for University units and departments to download, print and share with personnel who use box cutters.

Bloodborne Pathogens

The purpose of the UW Bloodborne Pathogens (BBP) Program is to protect University personnel from exposure to human blood and other potentially infectious materials (OPIM).

The UW Bloodborne Pathogens Program is detailed in the UW Core Bloodborne Pathogens Exposure Control Plan in Appendix A of the UW Biosafety Manual.

Box Cutter Safety Focus Sheet

Avoid accidents and injuries by following the tips in the Box Cutter Safety Focus Sheet.

Laser Cutter Safety Focus Sheet

Laser cutters pose potential hazards from exposure to the laser light, high temperatures that could result in a fire, and air contaminants (fumes, vapors or particulates produced when the laser cuts material) that might be inhaled. Follow the precautions on the Laser Cutter Safety Focus Sheet to safely operate a laser cutter.