STUDENT & FACULTY LAB SAFETY TRAINING
Before starting research lab work in the Science Center, everyone (students & faculty/staff) must register and attend one of the General Lab Safety Training sessions offered by the Lab Safety & Compliance Director, Dr. Margaret Rakas or the Lab Safety and Compliance Specialist, Hannah Seawall. Attendance at least once during your time at Smith is the minimum requirement.
Note: Before the training session, you are allowed to work on project components that do not involve chemicals, biologicals, or instrumentation of any kind.
For more in depth info on training requirements, see sections below for both students and faculty/staff
| General Lab Safety Seminar is required before beginning any work involving chemical hazards, biological hazards, physical hazards, or hazardous processes in the Science Center. |
| If you need to attend a General Lab Safety Seminar for Fall 2026...register for a General Lab Safety session here (will be live in July). Choose one of the online sessions and write down the given password. Connect on the day/time of your registered session. Meetings are 50 minutes long and locked after 5 minutes as there is a lot of essential information that we don’t want missed. Individual Zoom links shown below:
Tuesday, September 15 @ 12:15PM If you are doing SURF research you are required to attend an in-depth SURF Safety Seminar each summer you participate if you do any work involving chemical hazards, biological hazards, physical hazards, or hazardous processes in the Science Center. If you need to attend a SURF Safety Seminar for Summer 2026...register for a SURF Lab Safety session here. This is an in-person training so you must plan accordingly. There is mandatory pre-work that you will only receive if you register, so please be sure to submit the linked registration form. Monday, May 11 @ 1PM-3PM, McConnell Hall–Room 102 |
| Bloodborne Pathogen Certification is for those working with materials which may contain bloodborne pathogens. You have to annually renew this certification. Your lab supervisor will let you know whether you need this training. |
| Do you want to stay updated on Bloodborne Pathogen Certification Seminars and be polled for scheduling? Sign up for the email list here |
| Do you need to use the autoclave? You must be trained by Tom Spooner (tspooner@smith.edu) first! Submit the Autoclave Training Registration Form to request training. |
Students: What you need to know about your responsibilities
Who has to do what….
- If only doing course-based research you are exempt from having to attend a General Lab Safety Seminar session.
- If you are a Teaching/Prep assistant in a lab course you must attend a General Lab Safety Seminar session before you can start working and repeat the training annually if you are working in a Chemistry course.
- If you are doing SURF (summer) research you are required to attend an in-depth SURF Safety Seminar each summer you participate.
- If you are doing Special Studies, Honors, or simply volunteering to do lab research during the academic year you are required to attend an in-depth general lab safety training before you start your lab work. Attendance at least once during your time at Smith is the minimum requirement. This requirement is met by both the General Lab Safety Seminar and SURF Safety Seminar.
Student research safety training requirements:
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Students are also personally responsible for their own, and their fellow lab mates, safety. This means you must…
- Complete the required safety training mandated by the College and your supervisors.
- Read and acknowledge provided training documentation
- Follow the appropriate guidelines when dealing with hazardous materials and processes
Faculty/Staff: What you need to know about your responsibilities
Principal Investigators and Laboratory Supervisors are legally responsible for…
- The safety of anyone working in their laboratory spaces.
- The safety of their researchers when using other spaces, unless responsibility has been formally transferred to another faculty/staff member
Specifically, this means ensuring all employees, visitors, and students under supervision…
- Complete the required safety training mandated by the college
- Be provided with documented training specific to their laboratory space
- Follow the appropriate guidelines when dealing with hazardous materials and processes
Faculty/Staff research safety training requirements:
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