Overview
Written safety plans are lacking or incomplete (e.g., Virtual Manual/Chemical Hygiene Plan, Biosafety Manual, etc.) or employees do not know how or where to access plans and protocols.
Conformance with this checklist item is primarily established through an interview with laboratory workers. Notice there are two distinct parts to this question:
- Is there a safety manual for the laboratory?
- Do employees know how to access it?
Your survey needs to assess both. Ask laboratory workers if they have a manual. Then ask them how they access it. Search for a profile under the PI’s email address. If you find a virtual manual (VM) but the laboratory workers that you interviewed did not know about it, then we have a problem with the second half of the question.
If the lab worker responded that they don’t have a safety manual, and you are not able to locate a virtual manual record for the PI (this should noted in the “Conditions” tab of the Chemical permit AND in a Virtual Manual User List is located on the common drive under "Safety & Compliance Survey Resources" ), then we have a problem with the first half of the question. Either way, this checklist item will be cited in these situations.
In a bio-lab, these same things are also assessed, but there is an additional requirement to assess these materials in the context of a biosafety manual. All bio labs must have a biosafety manual in addition to a general safety manual.
This item is based on numerous federal regulations and covers a variety of items that may trigger a citation.