Chemical Hygiene Plan

The Academic Affairs Laboratory Safety Chemical Hygiene Plan is a written program designed to address MIOSHA regulatory compliance requirements which are non-laboratory specific. 

The Laboratory Supervisor Chemical Hygiene Plan is a written program that documents all the practices specific to that particular workplace or laboratory. To make the process easy for the Laboratory Supervisor, this written program is a template that may be filled and supported by making references to additional resources such as but not limited to SOPs, Class Syllabuses, and Research Notebooks.

The Chemical Standards/ Guidelines address the non-mandatory National Research Council Recommendations. This written program contains information concerning practices for the purchase, transport, use and disposal of chemicals.

The Academic Affairs Director of Laboratory Safety has been designated by the Provost as the Academic Affairs Chemical Hygiene Officer. The director is qualified by training or experience to provide technical guidance in the development and implementation of the provisions of the Academic Affairs Chemical Hygiene Plan. The Academic Affairs Director of Laboratory Safety is Us and may be reached by email or calling 231-591-2154.

The Hazard Assessment process will be used to determined if a College is required to comply with MIOSHA Part 431 Hazardous Work in Laboratories regulation.  If the College is required to comply with the regulation the Dean of the College may designated an employee who is qualified by training or experience to provide technical guidance in the development and implementation of the provisions of the Laboratory Supervisor Chemical Hygiene Plan.  The College Chemical Hygiene Officer will work in conjunction with the Academic Affairs Chemical Hygiene Officer.

It depends. The Chemical Hygiene Plan is designated to ensure compliance for a specific workplace or laboratory with MIOSHA Part 431.  If the laboratory specific practices and procedures that are performed in all the workplaces are the same and the hazards identified in the Hazard Assessment associated with the the workplace are the same then one plan should be fine.  However, if this is not the case then a Chemical Hygiene Plan will be required for each workplace. Consult with the Academic Affairs Director of Laboratory Safety.

The Academic Affairs Chemical Hygiene Officer will issue the binder for the Chemical Hygiene Plan that will be housed in the specific workplace or laboratory it supports.  The Laboratory Supervisor is responsible for ensuring the following documents are contained within the binder 

• Laboratory Supervisor Chemical Hygiene Plan AALSSD 2-60-2003 specific for the workplace/laboratory
• Academic Affairs Laboratory Safety Chemical Hygiene Plan AALSSD 2-60-2002
• Chemical Standards/Guidelines AALSSD 2-60-2001
• Workplace/laboratory specific additional references such as but not limited to SOPs, Class Syllabuses, and Research Notebooks
• Current copy of MIOSHA Part 431.

The completed Chemical Hygiene Plan shall not be posted on any website because of the sensitive information it may contain. However, the Laboratory Supervisor shall make the binder readily available to the faculty, staff, student, student employee, and upon request official representatives of local, state, and federal regulatory agencies with jurisdiction to inspect the workplace or laboratory. 

The program is designed to provide guidelines for developing, writing, implementing, maintaining, and recordkeeping for laboratory specific Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). It shall serve as reference for performing laboratory work involving hazardous materials, processes, procedures and instrumentation/equipment operations.

Many laboratory procedures are simply variations on the same theme.  In instances where the personal protective equipment, hierarchy of controls, emergency procedures, and training considerations are the same then it is appropriate to cover the procedure on the same form.

One way to address this documentation is in the Research Notebook.  Reference  in the Laboratory Supervisor Chemical Hygiene Plan that the Research Notebook contains this information.  Label the Research Notebook with the fillable SOP Hazard Assessment Label.

Remember Hazard Assessments shall done throughout the research, as conditions change which may impact the SOPs personal protective equipment, hierarchy of controls, and emergency procedures requirements 

Use the system that already works for the laboratory.  The training records to support regulatory compliance with MIOSHA Part 431 shall be kept for three years.  All training records shall be made available when requested by the Academic Affairs Chemical Hygiene Officer, College Chemical Hygiene Officer, and any official representatives of local, state, and federal regulatory agencies with jurisdiction to inspect the workplace or laboratory.

The purpose of the chemical hygiene plan is about complying with regulations, ensuring that proper Hazard Assessment are performed, the results of the assessments are addressed, and training for the identified faculty, staff, students, and student employees who will be involved in the laboratory procedures or processes has been completed.