Spills
Oil Leak or Spill
- Identify the source
- Stop the flow if it is safe to do so
- Stop the spread of oil using absorbent
- Call EHS or Campus Police
Chemical Spill or Release
- Identify the chemical if safe to do so.
- Look for marking or label
Safe to Stay Inside
Stop the release of the chemical
Stop the spread of the chemical using absorbent
Notify Lab Manager or EHS at x3427
Unsafe to Stay in Area
Notify occupants to evacuate
Shut the door on leaving
Contact the Lab Manager and EHS x3427
Unsafe to Stay in Building
Notify occupants to evacuate
Shut the door on leaving
Pull the Fire Alarm and leave the building.
Once outside contact EHS and Campus Police 911
Blood and Biological Spills
Non-Laboratory Spill
- Call Facilities and Campus Services Customer Service at x4255.
- Provide your name and location, and that your require blood or bodily fluid clean-up services.
Biohazard Spills in Laboratories
- Wear gloves, protective eyewear, and a lab coat.
- Use forceps or other mechanical means to pick up broken glass and discard into a sharps container.
- Wait 30 minutes for aerosol to settle before entering the spill area. Assemble clean up materials and personal protective equipment during this time, using Spill Kit if needed.
- Cover spilled material with absorbent material.
- Add diluted disinfectant in sufficient quantity to ensure effective microbial inactivation, let sit 15 minutes.
- Dispose of absorbent material in a red biohazard bag. Work from the outside of the spill and finishing in the center.
- Wipe spill area with diluted disinfectant. Discard clean-up materials in the waste container.
- Wash hands with soap and water when finished.
- Report all spills to EHS by completing a First Report of Injury/Incident
- Put on disposable gloves, lab coat, and splash protection (eye protection + surgical mask if a large spill with potential for splashes)
- Pick up any pieces of broken glass or other solid materials in the spill with forceps or tongs and place contaminated broken glass in a sharps container.
- Cover spill with paper towels or other absorbent material, pour or spray disinfectant around the spill allowing it to mix with spilled material. Allow suitable contact time, usually 5-10 minutes; material can be scooped up before this timeframe, but organisms may not be inactivated.
- Mechanically scoop up the absorbed spill using scoops or cardboard.
- Discard all disposable materials used to clean up the spill into a biohazard bag.
- Wash hands with soap and water.
- If agent poses an inhalation risk, quickly leave the room. Notify others to leave. Most agents used at BSL-2 are not airborne pathogens. Close door, and post with a warning sign.
- If liquid spill has contaminated clothing, remove contaminated clothing, turning exposed areas inward, and place in a biohazard bag.
- Wash all exposed skin with soap and water.
- Inform Principal Investigator or supervisor, and, if assistance is needed, consult EHS or Biosafety Officer at 336.770.0313.
- Allow aerosols to disperse for at least 15 minutes before reentering the laboratory (If applicable).
- Assemble clean-up materials from spill kit (disinfectant, paper towels or other absorbent, biohazard bags, and forceps).
- Put on protective clothing (lab coat, eye/face protection, gloves, shoe covers if necessary).
- Depending on the nature of the spill, it may be advisable to wear an N-95 filtering face piece. The N-95 should only be worn if there is an airborne hazard present, and only by those who have met the requirements of the Respiratory Protection Program.
- Pick up any sharp objects with forceps or tongs and discard them in a sharps container. Smaller pieces of glass may be collected with cotton or paper towels held with forceps.
- Cover the area of the spill with paper towels or other absorbent material sufficient to soak up the liquid, and then carefully pour or spray disinfectant around the spill. Avoid enlarging the contaminated area. Use more concentrated disinfectant as it is diluted by the spill. Allow at least 5-10 minutes contact time.
- Using mechanical means, scoop up the absorbed spill material and discard in a biohazard bag for subsequent autoclaving.
- Wear gloves, eye protection, and a lab coat.
- Collect any sharp objects with forceps or other mechanical device and place in a sharps container.
- Using a detergent solution, clean the spill site of all visible blood.
- Spray the spill site with 10% bleach or other disinfectant and allow 10-minute contact time.
- After the 10-minute contact time, wipe the area down with disinfectant-soaked paper towels.
- Discard all disposable materials used to decontaminate the spill and any contaminated personal protective equipment into a biohazard bag.
- Remove gloves and wash your hands with soap and water.
- Keep other personnel out of the area to prevent spreading of spill material.
- Post warning signage if needed.
- Remove contaminated clothing and put in a biohazard bag for decontamination later.
- Wash hands and any exposed skin and inform the PI of the spill. Contact EHS Biosafety for your campus for assistance, if needed.
- Wear gloves, face protection and a lab coat to clean up spills.
- If broken glass is present, use forceps to pick up and place in a sharps container.
- Absorb the spill with absorbent material and add disinfectant in sufficient quantity to ensure decontamination, let sit for 15 minutes.
- Discard all materials into a waste container.
- Wipe the spill area with the appropriate disinfectant effective against the organism. Discard clean- up materials in a red biohazard bag.
- Autoclave the gloves and other materials worn to clean up the spill.
- Wash hands with soap and water.
- Report all recombinant or synthetic DNA spills to the EHS immediately.
- If an injury has occurred, complete a First Report of Injury form and seek medical evaluation.
- Leave the biological safety cabinet blower on and begin cleanup immediately.
- While wearing PPE (gloves and lab coat at minimum), cover the spill area with paper towels or disinfectant soaked paper towels. Do not place your head in the cabinet to clean the spill, keep your face behind the view screen.
- If necessary, flood the work surface as well as the drain pans and catch basins below the work surface,
- with disinfectant. Be sure the drain valve is closed before flooding the area under the work surface.
- Wipe cabinet walls, work surfaces, and inside the view screen with disinfectant.
- Lift the front exhaust grill and work surface; wipe all surfaces with disinfectant. Be sure no paper towels or soiled debris are blown into the area under the spill tray.
- If the work surface, as well as drain pans and catch basins under the work surface, have been flooded with disinfectant soak up the disinfectant in the work surface. Place a container under the drain valve and drain the disinfectant under the work surface into the container.
- Wipe the areas under the work surface to remove residual disinfectant.
- Collect all cleanup materials and used gloves in a biohazard bag for autoclaving.
- Wash hands and exposed skin with soap and water.
- Notify the PI or supervisor.
- If the spill overflows the drain pan/catch basin under the work surface into the interior of the biological safety cabinet notify Environmental Health & Safety. More extensive decontamination of the biological safety cabinet may be required.
- Immediately turn off power and unplug power cord from wall socket.
- Immediately notify all personnel in the lab and keep other personnel out of the area of the spill.
- If spill volume is large (>2L) close the lid of incubator and call PI or EHS
- If spill can be safely cleaned up by lab personnel:
- Remove all contaminated clothing and place it in a red biohazard bag to be autoclaved. If skin is contaminated, treat with non-bleach disinfectant, and follow with antimicrobial soap & water rinse.
- Don appropriate PPE
- Place absorbent material inside incubator to prevent leakage onto motorized parts below, then close the lid.
- Inform PI of the spill then retrieve Biohazard Spill Kit and appropriate disinfectant.
- Put signage on the incubator that says, “HAZARDOUS SPILL- DO NOT OPEN”
- If the spill liquid is leaking out from the unit, apply disinfectant to the spill as well as the perimeter around the spill. Once the disinfectant takes effect, clean up with absorbent material from the Spill Kit. Discard the cleanup material into a red biohazard bag.
- Spilled liquid cannot be absorbed all at once because of the design of shaking incubators, therefore you must work from top to bottom. Spray disinfectant over the absorbent material you applied earlier. To minimize aerosols and drips, carefully place wet absorbent material in an autoclave bag to be discarded.
- Immediately apply more absorbent material to the spill if needed. Use pads, socks, or pillows from the Spill Kit according to the volume of the spill and the size of the area to cover.
- Spray interior surface areas of the unit with disinfectant, especially any broken vessels associated with the spill. Wait for disinfectant to be effective.
- Remove the pieces of broken vessels from the incubator interior; use forceps to avoid skin injury. Place broken glass in Sharps container; decontaminate by autoclaving as soon as possible.
- At this point you may need to remove the incubator’s platform to get to lower regions for further spill cleanup.
- Thoroughly spray the platform with disinfectant before removal and give disinfectant time to work.
- Before taking the platform out of the incubator, spray absorbent material with disinfectant and use them to cover an area on the lab floor upon which to place the platform. Choose an area of the floor that is out of your way. Place removed platform onto absorbent material and perform a more thorough clean up later. Spray tools with disinfectant.
- Apply the absorbent material to any spill liquid you see in lower regions of the incubator.
- After all spilled material has been removed, disinfect every surface of the incubator that is accessible and repeat if necessary. Use cotton-tipped swabs for hard-to-reach areas. Do not use bleach on metal parts. If decontamination of enameled surfaces is performed with a bleach solution, apply a water rinse.
- Put the cleaned, dried platform back into position and leave the lid incubator open for additional drying out and autoclave any contaminated PPE.
- Turn power off.
- Pour an adequate amount of disinfectant directly into the water/shaker bath to effect decontamination. (CAVICIDE is recommended over bleach to reduce likelihood of damage to metal parts from chloride exposure.)
- Replace cover and wait for 20 minutes.
- Discard the water/disinfectant solution by pouring down sink drain, and flush sink drain with water.
- Disinfect the surfaces of the water/shaker bath and allow it to dry before returning the unit to regular use.
- Immediately notify all personnel in the lab. Leave the centrifuge closed for at least 30 minutes for aerosol to settle.
- Pour adequate amount of disinfectant to spill area and all exposed surfaces.
- Allow contact time of 20 minutes, then absorb spill with absorbent material provided in the spill kit.
- Pour an adequate amount of disinfectant on the spill area again and allow 20 minutes contact time, then repeat the clean-up process using absorbent material.
- Finish cleanup with a water rinse and place all clean up materials in a red biohazard bag.
- In the event of a minor spill which did not generate significant aerosols, the spill may be cleaned up with absorbent material soaked in disinfectant.
- In the event of a major spill, the door of the incubator or refrigerator should be shut for 30 minutes to allow any aerosol to settle.
- Use an appropriate disinfectant and allow a contact time of 20 minutes. All exposed surfaces should be disinfected, including equipment, racks, tubes, bottles, etc.
- Absorb the spill with absorbent material and pour an adequate amount of the disinfectant to the spill area. After another 20-minute contact time, use absorbent material and finish cleaning up with a water rinse.
- All clean up materials should be placed in a red biohazard bag.
Radiological Spills
- Cover spill with absorbent paper.
- Notify persons in the area that a spill has occurred. If necessary, evacuate personnel to a safe distance in order
to limit the chance of further spread of contamination. - Wear disposable gloves. Use tongs if available. Carefully fold the absorbent paper or pad. Perform a survey of
the immediate area and decontaminate the area as necessary. Insert all contaminated items (including gloves
and the absorbent paper or pad) into a plastic bag for disposal in a radioactive waste container. - Report the incident to Radiation Safety; a staff member may come to your laboratory to verify that the area
has been decontaminated. The person responsible for the spill may submit a written report of the incident to
the RSO.
- Notify all persons not involved in the spill to vacate the room.
- Cover spill with absorbent towels or pads, but do NOT attempt to clean up.
- Leave the room and prevent further entry.
- Immediately notify Radiation Safety for assistance with decontamination.
- Stay in the immediate area and retain all involved persons in a safe area outside the room. Radiation Safety
personnel may monitor individuals for potential contamination. The person responsible for the spill may
submit a written report of the incident to the RSO.
- Call the Operator at 336-716-9111.
- Report that you have a radiation emergency.
- Give the Operator your name, location and telephone number.
- The operator will contact the appropriate individuals.