| Policy Title | Laboratory Compliance Enforcement |
|---|---|
| Responsible Office | Environmental Health and Safety (EH&S) |
| Policy Type | Environmental Health |
| Policy Number | 1017 |
| Last Revision Date | 2/4/2026 |
91社区 is dedicated to providing a safe and healthy learning and working environment for all 91社区 faculty, staff, and students. To foster this goal the Office of Compliance and Risk Management and the Office of Environmental Health and Safety work diligently to maintain a high level of compliance with all laboratory safety requirements and regulations. Regular laboratory audits, training on safe laboratory practices, and appropriate inventory, labeling, handling, and proper disposal of chemicals is an integral part of this safety program.
Principal Investigators, faculty, and laboratory supervisors are responsible for laboratory safety in their respective research or teaching laboratories. Each individual associated with a laboratory is directly responsible for all of the activities outlined in the 91社区 Chemical Hygiene Plan, Laboratory Safety Manual, safety committee recommendations and New York State and Federal regulations such as OSHA/PESH, DEC, EPA, NIH, DOH, and many more.
All laboratory audits are performed using the computer program LabCliq by SafetyStratus. Each lab is audited once per year, normally unannounced. Results will be emailed directly to the PI. The PI will have two weeks to complete any corrective actions and certify them on LabCliq. An extension may be requested, and will be granted at the discretion of the inspector.
Inspection actions not addressed within the allotted 2-week window will follow an automatic escalation procedure until they are closed out as follows:
Tier 1: The initial 10 day window.
Tier 2: After 10 days, a reminder will be mailed.
Tier 3: Fifteen days after the initial inspection, a second reminder will automatically
be sent to the PI with copies to the Dept. Chair and Lab Safety Manager. The PI will
have 5 days to correct and
verify all noted violations. A follow up audit may occur.
Tier 4: The PI has now had 20 days to correct any noted violations. A final email will be sent to the PI, copying the Dept Chair, Dean's Office, and Lab Safety Manager. Due to the severity of failing to correct these safety violations, the Chemical Hygiene Officer may escalate this inspection and enact the penalties noted below. A follow up meeting may be scheduled with the PI, the Dean's office, and EH&S.
Unfortunately some laboratories engage in practices that are not safe even after being notified about these problems. To help rectify these circumstances an enforcement policy has been developed jointly by the Divisions of Research, Academic Affairs, and Administration. Consistent non-compliance in laboratory safety practices, in both teaching and research laboratories, is subject to some or all of the following penalties, depending on the severity of the infraction(s):
- Laboratories consistently out of compliance could have discretionary funding withheld by their departments.
- If laboratory non-compliance in chemical hygiene or biosafety causes a great enough safety concern/regulatory risk that staff from EH&S are required to correct the problem immediately, the department in question will be required to pay for the time spent by EH&S staff or any other cost to the University to correct the infractions.
- If consistent non-compliance in a laboratory is noted upon external inspection, (Office of Fire Protection and Control, Public Employee Safety and Health, etc), or if negligent actions taken in a laboratory result in the University being assessed fines and/or penalties, those fines and/or penalties will be paid by the department.
- As a last resort, Faculty/Staff/Students could potentially lose access to all laboratory
space on campus, in the event of consistent, non-corrected lab safety issues.
Internal eie
Internal penalties are assessed by the Vice President for Research or the ProvostVice President for Academic Affairs (based on the type of laboratory in question - research or teaching) in conjunction with EH&S. Initial or 'non-chronic' issues of non-compliance with chemical hygiene and safety requirements will continue to be dealt with in the same manner. Faculty will be notified of the issue(s) by EH&S, and will work together to correct the infractions.
| Date | Description | Responsible Party |
| 2/04/2026 | Grammatical and updated links. | Environmental Health & Safety |