Laboratory Standard Operating Procedures
Some procedures are specific to each laboratory so cannot be covered in the general University Standard Operating Procedures. These procedures must be documented as Laboratory Standard Operating Procedures (LSOPs) to address the specific chemical hazards and situations expected in the laboratory.
LSOPs are required for the use of hazardous chemicals with their own OSHA vertical standard (49 CFR 1900.1001 – 1910.1052). Examples of such chemicals include benzene, mercury, methylene chloride, and lead. LSOPs may also be required for specialized procedures or equipment in the laboratory that may present a unique hazard to laboratory workers, or that are meant to mitigate hazards presented to laboratory workers. All laboratory specific LSOPs must be included in the Approval’s Laboratory Chemical Hygiene Plan (LCHP) and their relevance and effectiveness evaluated annually, with the rest of the LCHP.
LabRAT (Lab Risk Assessment Tool)
When designing your laboratory protocol, it is imperative to consider the hazards and risks involved in each step of the process. Performing a risk assessment before starting a new protocol will challenge you to think critically about what your research questions, outcomes, and variables are and whether or not your process is supporting those and your health and safety.
The UArizona LabRAT (Risk Assessment Tool) is a framework for assessing your risk that operates on the scientific method and principles of health safety: anticipating, recognizing, evaluating, and controlling hazards.
Contact Research Laboratory Safety Services at 520-626-6850 or rlss-help@email.arizona.edu for assistance.
RLSS has created a library of chemical-specific Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), as well as hazard class SOPs, to aid in maintaining a safe and compliant laboratory has developed SOPs for a wide variety of chemical hazards. These SOPs include information on the hazard, common control practices, and references. The intent is that laboratories will take this SOP as a template, completing the relevant sections with their specific use and hazard information; these template are NOT applicable in all situations and must be adapted to your specific/intended purpose. This will then be appended to your Laboratory Chemical Hygiene Plan, printed out for all lab workers to access, and refreshed as needed.
Please contact RLSS at rlss-chem-support@arizona.edu for assistance completing and updating these plans.
University Standard Operating Procedures (USOPs) provide detailed information about the safe use of hazardous chemicals in different situations. All University of Arizona laboratory workers must comply with any USOPs that apply to their work with hazardous chemicals. The hazards, control measures, spill, exposure procedures, and waste disposal requirements for each Hazard Class are described in specific Hazard Class USOPs. Other USOPs include "Unattended Reactions," "Proper Use of a Chemical Fume Hood" and "Use of Hazardous Chemicals in Animals."
All USOPs are included in Appendix B of the University Chemical Hygiene Plan and they are also available as separate PDF documents below.