Items on this page are posted as a minimum requirement for your reference and use.  Use as is or as a building point to create your own Lab Safety Programs.

PVAMU Laboratory Safety Manual

The following information is provided to assist Prairie View A&M University Departments in developing procedures to meet laboratory safety requirements to protect students, employees, and the environment. This program sets forth recommended minimum requirements that need to be followed to maximize the safety of all workers.

Laboratory Safety Manual (published 2022)

Laboratory Safety Training

Training lab personnel on the proper handling of hazardous chemicals and hazardous waste doesn’t have to be time-consuming. This type of training, however, is an annual requirement of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA). This type of training can take the form of classroom training, web-based training and even on-the job training.

Anyone working in a laboratory and/or working with hazardous materials, need to take annually:

  • “Hazard Communication and Lab Safety” (course # 2111393)
  • “Biosafety” (course #21113999), if you are working in a biological laboratory
  • “Fire and Life Safety” (course #2111398)

These trainings can be taken through Train Traq via the link: https://sso.tamus.edu/Logon.aspx?ReturnUrl=%2fmain.aspx.  Once completed, they will be documented in your training transcript.

Laboratories Hazardous Wastes

The ability of personnel to manage hazardous waste can have a lot to do with the quality and quantity of the training that they receive. An effective training program does not have to consume a great deal of time, but it does need to be comprehensive enough to cover the topics required by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). Although RCRA training is typically up to the central Risk Management and safety (RMS) of a college or university, this responsibility may fall on the individual departments at some schools.
Whether or not RCRA personnel training requirements apply to your department depends on the quantity of hazardous wastes generated per month at your college or university. Many organizations will combine different EH&S training sessions to minimize the amount of time employees are “away” from their job responsibilities.