Research Safety

General Laboratory Safety

Facility Safety Plan for DOD Research Sponsors

SCOPE: Broad Agency Announcements (BAA) for DOD-funded research opportunities (ex. US Army, Air Force, Navy, Joint Programs); also select DOE & EPA-funded research grants**

Facility Safety Plan (Institutional)
The University of Michigan has an approved Facility Safety Plan on file with the DOD - United States Army Medical Research and Material Command (USAMRMC) dated July 19, 2011, expiration date is July 19, 2016. The Facility Safety Plan is applicable to all proposals submitted during this time period. Along with this Plan, a current Facility Safety Director/Manager disclosure document is on-file with the same agency, as required.

Certificate of Environmental Compliance
A Certificate of Environmental Compliance form must be signed by OSEH and submitted by the Facility Safety Manger for each project that receives funding. In order for the form to be generated and signed by OSEH, the PI must provide the Project Title and PI’s name. Email these to the OSEH contact listed at the bottom of this guideline.

In addition to the documents noted above, the following documentation must be completed by the Principal Investigator and submitted to the USAMRMC:

Safety Program Assurance Form
USAMRMC requires that the principal investigator complete a Principal Investigator Safety Program Assurance form. Once completed the form should be printed for signature/date and scan/fax it to your DRDA Grant Administrator.

Laboratory Safety Plan
USAMRMC also requires that the principal investigator complete and sign a brief Laboratory Safety Plan that addresses all hazards, engineering controls, personal protective equipment, training, waste disposal procedures, etc. that will be utilized to ensure the project is conducted safely. To complete this (approx. 2 page) summary document, please consider the following guideline:

Development of a Laboratory Safety Plan (disclosure) for DOD Research Grants
This checklist is meant to serve as a guideline to assist the Principal Investigator with the development of safety plan for inclusion in your grant proposal. All items in the checklist must be addressed in the proposal but should not be considered as an exhaustive source for content information. Please answer the following questions in detail. A yes or no answer is not adequate.

  • List of hazards. Identify potential physical and health hazards such as infectious material, biological hazards, radiation, hazardous chemicals, gases and other hazardous materials.
    • Is proper storage available for these materials? - Provide a brief description
    • Is there a proper disposal route available for wastes generated from these materials? - Provide brief description
    • Are the necessary (specialized) engineering controls available for safely handling these materials (i.e. biological safety cabinet, glove box, ductless hood, etc)? - Provide brief description
    • Is proper personal protective equipment available for handling these materials? - Provide brief description
    • Are emergency procedures in place in case of an accidental spill or release? - Provide brief description
    • Are procedures in place for injury and illness reporting? - Provide brief description
  • The building and room numbers of the laboratories where the proposed procedures will occur must be listed.
  • A description of the facility equipment, safety equipment and engineering controls (i.e. chemical fume hood, local exhaust ventilation devices, etc.) – Proved brief description?
  • All chemical fume hoods and biological safety cabinets must be certified on an annual basis – indicate that UM-OSEH provides that certification service on an annual basis and keeps those records.
  • Hazardous chemicals must be disposed of in compliance with U-M policies and local, state and federal regulations – indicate that your Chemical Hygiene Plan has a specific section on chemical waste management and disposal, and that staff have been trained on these SOP’s both by UM-OSEH and also by laboratory management of specific aspects of your laboratory operations.
  • Regulated Medical Waste must be disposed of in compliance with U-M policies and local, state and federal regulations – indicate that your Exposure Control Plan has a specific section on biomedical waste management and disposal, and that staff have been trained on these SOP’s both by UM-OSEH and also by laboratory management of specific aspects of your laboratory operations.
  • Bloodborne Pathogen training must be conducted annually where human-derived products and other blood/body fluid –related exposure risks are inherent in your product research operations. Indicate that your Exposure Control Plan has a specific section on employee protections, immunization program for HBV, and Post-exposure evaluation and follow-up for any occupational exposures. Indicate that employees have been trained on these safety SOP’s as well as Universal Precautions.
  • Each employee working on the proposed project must be sent to the Occupational Safety and Environmental Health (OSEH) for the mandatory Comprehensive Laboratory Safety Training Course, which covers baseline aspects of all the above safety practices and precautions.
  • A current copy of the Chemical Hygiene Plan must be available in the laboratory. If you don’t already have one prepared, a copy of the UM Standard Template for this document can be modified for your use.
  • A current copy of the Bloodborne Pathogens Exposure Control Plan must be available in the laboratory. If you don’t already have one prepared, a copy of the UM Standard Template for this document can be modified for your use.
  • Chemical spill controls should be available for each type of hazardous liquid. This includes neutralizers for corrosives and absorbents. Kids for this purpose can be purchased from the THERMO-FISHER catalog.
  • Hazardous Materials Spills for spill procedures.
  • MSDS must be available for all hazardous chemicals. MSDS’s can be obtained from for most chemicals from various chemical supplier websites. Click here for guidance on accessing these safety documents
  • Further resources: https://mrmc-www.army.mil/index.cfm?pageid=researcher_resources.safety

OSEH contact for CEC documents:
Tim Cullen
University of Michigan - OSEH
1239 Kipke Drive
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1010
734-763-5267
734-763-1185 (FAX)

OSEH contact for DOD Grant safety documents:
Jon Lillemoen
University of Michigan - OSEH
1239 Kipke Drive
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1010
734-936-2130
734-763-1185 (FAX)

DRDA contact for DOD Grant management:
Kathryn A. DeWitt
Project Representative - DoD, DHS, NASA, USDA
University of Michigan - DRDA
3003 South State Street #1058
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1274
734-936-1288
734-764-8510 (FAX)

** Certain DOD/DOE/EPA grants that involve applied research, higher dollar awards, or that involve funding for construction/renovations – require an Environmental Questionnaire in order to complete the grant application package. This multi-page form can only be completed by UM-OSEH with facts gathered from various stake-holders, including the Academic Unit and the PI named on the research grant proposal. Completion of this complex questionnaire takes considerable effort in fact-gathering and verification, and thus requires a 5 day lead time. If OSEH receives this form from the PI less than 5 days in advance of the submittal deadline, we cannot guarantee that the form will be completed by the application deadline, set by the funding agency. These deadlines are announced well in advance by the funding agencies, as is the need for a completed Environmental Questionnaire. It is the responsibility of the PI and their staff to ensure that this aspect of grants application is attended to in a timely manner. If there are any questions concerning this advance notice requirement from OSEH, please call 3-6973.