Procedures for Lab Incidents

The EH&S Office of Research Safety has developed emergency procedures for laboratory incidents. These procedures are designed to define, record, analyze and learn from accidents and incidents. The following procedures should be followed based on the incident circumstances.

Expand allResearch Lab Incidents NOT Involving a Hazardous Material

1. Follow the steps outlined in the USC Workers’ Compensation Guidance for Work Related Accidents or Injuries.
2. Email Jocelyn Locke at jlocke@mailbox.sc.edu with a brief incident notification within 24 hours of any lab incident. Complete and submit the USC Laboratory Incident Report Form to EH&S [docx] within three days of the incident.

Research Lab Incidents Involving a Hazardous Material

1. Follow the steps outlined in the USC Workers’ Compensation Guidance for Work Related Accidents or Injuries.
2. Follow the hazard-specific incident reporting procedures and timelines based on the hazard involved:
   1. Biological Hazards
   2. Chemical Hazards
   3. Radiation Hazards
3. Email Jocelyn Locke at jlocke@mailbox.sc.edu with a brief incident notification within 24 hours of any lab incident. Complete and submit the USC Laboratory Incident Report Form to EH&S [docx] within three days of the incident.
4. All exposures to a hazardous material must be evaluated by a healthcare provider.

Teaching Lab Incidents Involving a Hazardous Material

1. Follow the steps outlined in the USC Workers’ Compensation Guidance for Work Related Accidents or Injuries, if applicable.
2. Follow the hazard-specific incident reporting procedures and timelines based on the hazard involved:
   1. Biological Hazards
   2. Chemical Hazards
   3. Radiation Hazards
3. Email Jocelyn Locke at jlocke@mailbox.sc.edu with a brief incident notification within 24 hours of any lab incident. Then complete and submit the Teaching Laboratory Incident Report Form [docx] within three days of the incident.
4. All exposures to a hazardous material should be evaluated by a healthcare provider.

In Case of a Laboratory Injury

Occasionally, work-related accidents or injuries happen. The University of South Carolina wants to ensure that these injuries are treated promptly and properly. That’s why USC partners with CompEndium Services 877-709-2667 to provide medical case management 24 hours a day/7 days a week. For all questions related to eligibility or treatment of work-related laboratory injuries, please contact the Benefits Office at (803) 777-6650.  Additional information is available on the Workers’ Compensation website.

If you have an injury, seek necessary medical care then contact Buddy Harley, EH&S Employee Safety Manager, right away at 803-528-8191. He will coordinate any required incident reporting to SC OSHA.

 

EH&S Incident Investigations

Responding appropriately to many types of incidents will require seeking medical care and reporting to multiple stakeholders. All lab incidents involving injury or exposure must be reported to EH&S after seeking initial medical care. When an incident is reported, EH&S will conduct an investigation and assist laboratory personnel to determine appropriate corrective actions. The incident investigation process enables us to learn from the incident and implement measures to prevent similar incidents in the future.

When a laboratory incident occurs, the Principal Investigator must review the incident report with all members of the laboratory and provide an opportunity to discuss the incident circumstances and lessons learned. Near misses and previous incidents provide opportunities for education and improvement only if they are appropriately documented, tracked, and communicated.

For non-emergency lab incidents that did not result in any injury and do not require immediate attention, please contact the EH&S Laboratory Safety Manager, Jocelyn Locke, at 803-777-7650 or jlocke@mailbox.sc.edu.

  

Safety Concerns & Near Miss Reporting

A near miss is considered any incident that did not result in personal injury, property damage or release into the environment, but given slightly different circumstances could have resulted in an accident. Examples include laboratory equipment failure, unexpected chemical reactions, non-compliance with safety policies or procedures, and general unsafe laboratory conditions that may result in an accident if the conditions are not addressed.

It is everyone’s responsibility to immediately report and correct potential hazards before they cause an injury or illness. The responsible personnel for reporting incidents, safety concerns and near-misses includes senior administrators, department chairs, Principal Investigators, laboratory personnel or any other individual that becomes aware of a hazardous situation.

Completing a Near Miss Report Form is one important way to document a hazardous situation and any change that is made to prevent its recurrence. These reports should be submitted to EH&S and discussed during lab meetings since they can be used to illustrate lessons learned to prevent future incidents.

Expand allSubmit a Safety Concern or Near Miss Report

*Required fields

If you see this don't fill out this input box.

A safety concern or near miss can be reported anonymously by withholding your identifying information.

Name

Phone

Email

May EH&S contact you for additional information or provide an update on the status of your concern?

YesNo

Date of Incident *

Location of Incident (Building, Room #, Specific Area)

Check the boxes that describe the near miss. *

Minor cuts, bruises, and burns (injuries not requiring medical treatment beyond basic first aid)Unsecured and/or improperly stored hazardous materialsPerforming experiments under incorrect procedural/experimental set-ups or conditions, or unapproved experimentsEquipment malfunctions, using semi-functioning equipment or using equipment outside of its intended or designed useLack of, improper use of, or use of unsuitable personal protective equipment (PPE)Not following standard operating procedures (SOPs) for specific experiment or taskSafety equipment (eyewash station, safety shower, fire extinguisher, fume hood) was misused or not operating properlyMinor incidents that had the potential to be more seriousEvents where serious injuries could have occurred but did notOther

Please provide a detailed narrative of the safety concern or near miss that you witnessed or have been informed occurred. The details you provide will allow us to accurately identify and investigate the issue reported. 

• What happened?
• When did it occur?
• Who was involved?
• Where did it happen?
• What was the root cause?

Narrative *

Please describe all actions implemented, if any, to correct unsafe conditions and avoid recurrence of the incident reported.

 

Resources on Laboratory Accidents and Incidents

There are multiple resources that can be useful for learning from accidents or incidents that have occurred in other laboratories:

• The Laboratory Safety Institute website maintains a Memorial Wall that includes an extensive list of laboratory accidents.
• The American Biological Safety Association website maintains a Laboratory-Acquired Infection (LAI) Database that enables the user to search for specific terms and find incident information such as the biological agent(s) involved, occupation of the affected person, biosafety level, device/equipment involved, how the exposure occurred, PPE worn, engineering controls used, follow-up procedures, actions that may have prevented exposure, post-exposure prophylaxis provided and agency reporting.
• Multiple agencies have encouraged the establishment and maintenance of an anonymous reporting system for centralizing the collection of information about and lessons learned from incidents and near misses in academic laboratories. There has been progress in recent years with some scientific literature referencing this type of incident information. All lab researchers are encouraged to carefully evaluate any references to safety precautions or lessons learned from incidents when reviewing scientific publications.
  
  

USC Laboratory Accident or Injury Resources

• USC Laboratory Incident Report Form [docx] 
  (EH&S Use Only: Incident Investigation Form [docx])
• USC Workers’ Compensation Guidance for Work-Related Accidents or Injuries