Laboratory Policy

Harvard Forest personnel are dedicated to maintaining safe and efficient laboratory operations. The following policies are to be followed by all researchers using HF laboratory facilities. Please contact David Orwig, Forest Ecologist (orwig@fas.harvard.edu, or 978-724-3302, ext. 250) with questions.

Forest Lab Management and Organization

The Paleo and Torrey Labs researchers work as a Lab Committee to manage lab operations and determine lab policies. HF lab staff coordinates these efforts in addition to their other research duties, so all lab users are asked to participate in making the labs safe and efficient.

Each spring (March-April), all laboratory users are asked to submit their plans for the coming field season by filling out the Researcher Application. The Lab Committee then reviews this information and plans accordingly, such as placing large supplies orders as needed, creating a schedule for high demand equipment and allocating bench/storage/office space for all the summer researchers. This is also the time when all materials in scientific refrigerators and core storage lockers that are not clearly labeled with a finite schedule of storage are discarded. In the fall (October-November), the Lab Committee has a general clean up of all lab space. Equipment, samples, etc. that are unlabeled or have not been approved for storage may be discarded or recycled at this time.

Dress Code in Labs

In certain areas of HF labs, all staff and visitors must wear appropriate personal protection equipment (PPE) as stated below. At a minimum, this means close-toed shoes and long pants must be worn in the lab. A lab coat is recommended at all times but is required when working at a hood. PPEs such as lab coats, gloves and goggles are available in every lab.

Pollen Lab: PPEs must be worn whenever working in the hood room.

Eco/Physiology Lab: PPE must be worn whenever working at the hood.

Nutrient Lab: Whenever a person will be in the main part of the lab for more than five minutes, the person must have on long pants and close-toed shoes plus any relevant PPEs. (Note: People should use the main entrance to the Nutrient Lab to reduce number of people walking through the lab without wearing PPE. The back entrance should only be used to load equipment, etc.)

Hazardous Waste Management

There are four research-related Hazardous Waste Accumulation sites at Harvard Forest:

• Shaler Hall - Pollen Lab - Satellite Accumulation
• Shaler Hall - Anatomy and Morphology Lab - Satellite Accumulation site
• Torrey - Eco/Physiology Lab - Satellite Accumulation site
• Torrey - Nutrient Lab - Main Accumulation site

Each site is inspected weekly by a lab researcher, currently Sultana Jefts and Heidi Lux.

Every lab person is responsible for ensuring that every chemical container in the lab has an identifying label on it.

Hazardous Waste containers must be in either a satellite or main accumulation site with a Hazardous Waste label noting the chemical(s) full name, concentration, hazardous properties and name of person initially placing container in the accumulation area. Do NOT date it if it is in a Satellite area. Only Main Accumulation tags may be dated if the container is full.

New lab research staff must visit www.uos.harvard.edu upon obtaining their H.U. ID # to take the online Hazardous Waste Training program. (Visitors should make alternate arrangements with Sultana Jefts at ssjefts@fas.harvard.edu. Please give a copy of the resulting certificate to Sultana.

Only Paleo Lab personnel are allowed to handle hazardous waste containing Hydrofluoric Acid. Hydrofluoric acid containers must be opened in the hood.

Lab Safety

There will also be a yearly training for all researchers working in any lab at Harvard Forest during in the last week of May.

Researchers should not be working after hours or on weekends alone when working with hazardous chemicals. Students should never work alone with hazardous chemicals.

Storage Space

Every experiment which produces sample or supplies which need storage, whether in a refrigerator, freezer or on shelf, must state clearly the name of the person conducting the experiment, what is in the container and when it may be discarded. Every researcher is responsible for clearing out and/or archiving old experiments when the experiment or their time at HF ends. Every researcher is responsible for making prior arrangements to store anything at the Forest after the field season ends by contacting David Orwig or the Facilities Manager, in writing. Labs are cleaned out at the end of each field season and unlabeled materials and equipment will be discarded.

Lab Emergencies/Spills

Individuals should review the Emergency Evacuation Plan posted in each laboratory. There are Chemical Spill Kits located in the Pollen and Nutrient Labs. Staff should familiarize themselves with the Spill Kit contents when first starting work in a lab. There are small first aid kits in the Pollen and Nutrient Labs as well as a larger one in the Facilities Manager's office. Emergency telephone numbers are listed on the back of every telephone on site. Any accidents should be reported to David Orwig, Edythe Ellin or the facilities manager. If it involves a personal injury, the person must fill out an Accident Report.

Chemical Hygiene Plan (CHC)

The master Chemical Hygiene Plan is kept in the Facilities Manager's office. Each lab also maintains a modified copy of the CHC inventory with copies of the Materials Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) for chemicals used in the lab. Each lab has a safety monitor who is responsible for keeping its inventory and MSDS sheets up to date and for communicating needed CHC revisions to the Facilities Manager. Every year, we will update the CHC main inventory list based upon changes in the individual lab notebooks. Every researcher is responsible for reviewing the contents of the CHC for the lab s/he works in as well as the master copy before beginning lab work at the Forest. When a new chemical is introduced to a lab, the CHC must be updated by writing the chemical in the lab CHC, placing a copy of the MSDS in the lab notebook and notifying the Facilities Manager to update the master CHC.

Lab Security

All labs are locked nights and weekends, year round. See Linda Hampson to get the appropriate key(s) for the work area you will be using.

Syringes

All needles and syringes must be kept in secured locations with access restricted to a limited number of authorized personnel. Syringes are kept in locked drawers in the labs and an inventory needs to be maintained regarding all syringes added to and taken from the area. All used syringes should be disabled by cutting the tip off and then discarded in a sharps container.

Equipment Usage

Certain laboratory equipment is either in high demand or restricted use during part or all of the year. Researchers who would like to use HF laboratory equipment should first fill out a Researcher Application including in detail their equipment needs. This is particularly true for the following equipment: acid bath, balances, lab computer, centrifuge, counter space, data archives, dessicators, DI water, fume hood, glassware, greenhouse, lake coring equipment, microscopes, muffle furnace, drying ovens, sample archive, storage freezer, storage refrigerator, and tree ring measuring device. Once the Application is approved, the researcher may sign up for time to use a piece of equipment by reserving space using the logbooks attached to most stationary equipment. Questions may be referred to David Orwig (orwig@fas.harvard.edu).