Environment, Health and Safety at the Laboratory for Manufacturing and Productivity

The Laboratory for Manufacturing and Productivity (LMP) is committed to providing a safe environment. Together with the Environment, Health, and Safety Office, we promote environmentally responsible practices, reduce our environmental impact, and protect the community's health and safety within our workspaces.

There are requirements, including prior training, for everyone in the department — faculty, staff and students, — who participate in workspace activities or has contact with potentially hazardous materials or activities.

Your laboratory has an EHS representative who can guide you through the training process. If you don't know your EHS rep, contact the LMP EHS coordinator Dan Herrick for more information.

You should begin your EHS training by completing the Training Needs Assessment. This will generate training requirements based on your research activities. Most of the required training is provided by EHS both online and in a classroom setting. However, the Chemical Hygiene Plan signature and LMP specific Chemical Hygiene Training are provided by LMP staff. See the instructions below to complete these training requirements. If you have any questions about your training, please contact your EHS rep or Dan Kallin.

MIT requires training before beginning work with any potentially hazardous materials or activities in an MIT laboratory. All principal investigators, graduate students, UROP students, postdocs, and other researchers working in a laboratory must complete a training needs assessment (TNA). Go to TNA.

Chemical Hygiene Plan: Researchers and lab supervisors are required to read this plan. They must certify that they have read the plan by completing and signing the online form or sending an email to the coordinator Dan Herrick. The Chemical Hygiene Plan had relatively minor changes for 2011. Web links were changed to reflect the new EH&S Web site. Also of note, however, Dr. Brian Anthony has agreed to serve as the Chemical Hygiene Officer for the LMP going forward. Previous readers can click here for a summary of the changes only.

Lab Specific Chemical Hygiene Training

Example Outline for Lab Specific Chem Hygiene Training (PDF)

EHS reps: Create your own training or use the above document as guidance.Email with trainee names and date of completion.

Machine Shop Safety

Seek instruction from experienced shop or lab staff before using any power tools or machines at MIT.

Nanoparticle Safety

Please review the following guidelines if you are conducting research with nanoparticles.

Nanoparticle Safety (pdf)

For a more complete discussion of the risks and precautions, please see the EHS information at:

Potential Risks of Nanomaterials and How to Safely Handle Materials of Uncertain Toxicity

Roles and Responsibilities

Principal Investigator or Laboratory Supervisor

  • Register space and potential hazards (implied licensure)
  • Appoint an EHS rep or function as their own EHS rep
  • Complete Training Needs Assessment
  • Perform weekly inspections of SAAs or appoint someone from lab to
    perform this function

EHS Representative

  • Provide lab specific chemical hygiene training to lab members
  • Disseminate EHS information to lab personnel
  • Perform weekly Level I inspections of laboratory
  • Attend meetings arranged by EHS coordinator
  • Complete descriptions of EHS roles & responsibilities can be found in the Chemical Hygiene Plan

Tools for Environmental Health and Safety Representatives

  • EHS rep orientation: Training : EHS reps should attend EHS0760c-A: EHS Representative Orientation.
  • EHS Representative Notebook: Webpage : Online version of the book provided during rep training.
  • SAPweb: Environmental Health and Safety: Space registration, training reconciliation, inspections, training reports.
  • Training Reports: EHS reps can run a PI training report by going to Training Reports (MIT certificate required) and choosing "Report 3: Report on all registered users under a PI or supervisor."
  • Checklists: Level I Inspection Checklist to be completed weekly, no record needed; Level II Inspection checklist (XLS spreadsheet) completed twice annually by EHS team.
  • EHS Representative additioanal tools and details: Webpage : A compilation of tools and resources geared to the EHS rep function.

Contacts

Environmental Health and Safety Links