UW personnel working indoors should be prepared for sudden increases in outdoor temperatures and wildfire smoke events during the summer months. It is important to keep windows closed as much as possible and rely on the building’s central heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system to provide filtered air during high outdoor heat and smoke events.
Washington state outdoor heat exposure and wildfire smoke rules are in effect from June 15 through September 29, 2022, and may apply to University departments and units with personnel performing work in an outdoor environment.
University units with sharps waste and human pathological waste should take note of recent changes to the University’s biohazardous waste streams.
3M™ issued a Stop Use/Recall Notice for DBI-SALA® ShockWave™2 Arc Flash Shock Absorbing Lanyards due to a potential manufacturing issue with a limited number of devices. This manufacturing issue could result in the lanyard not performing properly in the event of a fall, which could result in severe injury or death.
University units in possession of ShockWave™2 Arc Flash Shock Absorbing Lanyards must take the following steps.
Published on behalf of the University’s Advisory Committee on Communicable Diseases
The U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA), along with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and state and local partners, are investigating a multistate outbreak of Salmonella infections linked to certain Jif peanut butter products produced at the J.M. Smucker Company facility in Lexington, Kentucky.
As of June 30, 2022, MyChem requires users to upload a safety data sheet (SDS) when adding a new chemical to an inventory if that chemical does not currently exist in the MyChem database. Although this is not a new requirement, due to the high number of chemicals uploaded without SDSs, the MyChem system will now require an SDS when uploading chemicals.
3M issued a Product Advisory for select DBI-SALA® ExoFit™ XP Arc Flash Harnesses manufactured between January 2005 and July 2021 due to potential for inconsistent performance during an arc flash event.
Personnel working on UW research vessels can now add their chemical inventories into MyChem, the University’s chemical tracking system. UW employees who use chemicals or chemical-containing products at any UW owned or leased facility are required to maintain chemical inventories in MyChem, and chemicals can include, but are not limited to, paint, compressed gas cylinders, epoxies, and fuel.
University units with personnel who work outdoors must have an Outdoor Heat Exposure Prevention Plan in use from May through September, according to Washington state outdoor heat exposure rules.
