Safety
Any project that involves infectious agents, recombinant DNA, transgenic organisms, or other such materials must be approved beforehand by the Bio-safety Committee. This ad hoc committee is comprised largely of faculty members. EMU labs are limited to Bio-safety Level 2. Recombinant DNA projects are overseen for compliance with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines. Contact the Office of Research Compliance or the Environmental Health and Safety office for details.
Hazardous waste disposal
Hazardous chemicals, biological, and radioactive materials from laboratory work must be disposed of according to strict guidelines. Contact the Environmental Health and Safety office for details.
The Radiation Safety Committee is charged with monitoring and enforcing regulations issued in January 1994 by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and by the Michigan State Board of Health, which conducts a semiannual inspection of campus facilities. These regulations are summarized in a handout, "Instructions Regarding the Purchase and Handling of Radioactive Materials," available from the University Environmental Health and Safety Office and in department offices.
The committee monitors compliance with the recommended practices in order to ensure safe working conditions for all employees, students, and visitors who work in or pass through the areas of those buildings where radioactive materials are stored or used. All facilities where radioactive materials are stored and where experiments involving the use of radioactive materials are carried out require the prior approval of the committee, which also conducts periodic inspections.
The committee recommends appropriate radiation safety policies and practices as required by federal/state agencies to all faculty and staff (including department heads) who will utilize radioactive materials in teaching and/or research. The committee also prepares the reports required for continuing the University's radiation licensing and selects the Radiation Safety Officer and his/her alternate.
Training videos on radiation safety procedures purchased by the committee are available from Media Services 734.487.2220.
Further information can be obtained by contacting James McEvers, the EMU Radiation Safety Officer.