We consider lab coats part of PPE. Also, if you are making it a mandatory requirement, then the organization should be responsible for ensuring that they are available and usable. Otherwise, you really can't enforce a mandatory requirement when you leave it up to the students. Karon L. Floyd, Center Safety Officer Plum Island Animal Disease Center USDHS, S&T Direct: (631) 323-3332 Fax: (631) 323-3097 Email: karon.floyd**At_Symbol_Here**dhs.gov Never esteem anything as of advantage to you that will make you break your word or lose your self-respect. -Marcus Aurelius Antoninus ________________________________ From: DCHAS-L Discussion List on behalf of Humphrey, Karalyn J. Sent: Wed 4/6/2011 12:21 PM To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**LIST.UVM.EDU Subject: [DCHAS-L] Lab Coat policy query Greetings! My university is looking at rewriting their lab coat policy to make them mandatory for certain lower level teaching labs. What we're currently trying to iron out are the details of the following: 1) Are the students responsible for keeping up with their own lab coat, or is it the department's responsibility to store the coats for all the students? 2) Who is responsible for laundering the coats - the department or the students? We have a lab enrollment of several thousand students. My current thinking is to allow the students to keep up with and launder their own coats, except in the case of a chemical spill. But I wanted to put out this query and see what other institutions were doing. Thank you, Karen Humphrey Laboratory Coordinator & Safety Officer / Part-time Lecturer Baylor Univ. Dept. of Chemistry and Biochemistry Office: BSB E.111 Phone: (254) 710-2002
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