Campus Lab Safety Essentials

Duration: ~3 hours (asynchronous)
Required Before Beginning Any Lab Work Involving Chemicals, Biohazardous Materials, or Bloodborne Pathogens

Course Description

Campus Safety: Essentials is a mandatory, fast-paced online training designed to prepare all college students, teaching assistants, researchers, and laboratory employees for safe participation in academic science environments. Whether you are entering a chemistry teaching lab, joining a research group, or beginning work with biological specimens or bloodborne pathogens, this course equips you with the foundational skills and judgment required before you ever step into the lab.

Through engaging multimedia modules, case-based examples, and practical assessments, learners build confidence in recognizing hazards, preventing exposure, and responding appropriately to laboratory incidents. The course demystifies essential safety systems, including OSHA laboratory standards, CDC biosafety guidelines, and NIH policies, so you can work safely, ethically, and in full compliance with institutional and federal requirements.

This highly applied curriculum emphasizes the real decisions you’ll make at the bench: choosing the right PPE, interpreting hazard labels, preventing sharps injuries, handling chemicals and biological materials responsibly, and knowing exactly how to act during a spill, exposure, or injury. Whether you’re new to lab work or completing annual refresher training, Campus Safety: Essentials provides the core competencies required for safe scientific practice on any campus.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, learners will be able to:

• Identify chemical, biological, and physical hazards and evaluate the risks commonly encountered in teaching and research laboratories.
• Interpret and apply information from SDSs, hazard labels, pictograms, and campus signage using GHS and biosafety communication standards.
• Demonstrate proper use of PPE, hand hygiene, engineering controls, and standard safe-work practices for laboratory environments.
• Apply biosafety principles for safe handling, storage, and disposal of biohazardous materials, BBP-containing specimens, and microorganisms used for instruction or research.
• Recognize exposure routes and implement effective control measures when working with infectious agents, sharps, or potentially hazardous materials.
• Respond effectively to laboratory incidents, including spills, exposures, and injuries, by following campus emergency procedures and reporting protocols.
• Exhibit professional and ethical conduct that supports a culture of safety, accountability, and regulatory compliance across campus laboratories.

Why This Course Matters

Campus laboratories rely on a shared commitment to safety. By completing this required course, you help establish a safer learning and research environment for yourself, your peers, and future scientists who will follow in your footsteps. Campus Safety: Essentials ensures that every individual entering a laboratory has the foundational knowledge and preparedness to work safely and responsibly.