Safety Training
Safety training is essential to communicate the principles and practices of research and laboratory safety.
- Training programs are required by the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) for all employees who work with hazards such as hazardous chemicals and human-derived materials (e.g. human blood, body fluids or tissue specimens).
- National Institutes of Health (NIH) Guidelines requires employers to ensure appropriate training for laboratory staff regarding laboratory safety and implementation of the NIH Guidelines.
- The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) requires personnel generating infectious waste to understand compliance requirements for infectious waste collection, storage, transport and disposal.
- CHLA institutional policies requires employee training which focuses on the principles and practices for safely performing research.
- Other research funding and accreditation agencies also require grantees to perform their research in compliance with state and federal safety regulations, standards and guidelines.
Safety training provides that those that participate in laboratory research activities with an understanding of potential hazards and the ability to execute proper protective measures to mitigate potential hazards and associated risks. In addition, safety training ensures that those that participate in laboratory research activities are compliant with:
- Federal safety regulations, standards and guidelines
- CHLA institutional policies
Find out what courses you need to take and how to register below:
Controlled Substances Training
This mandatory training is required for initial and periodic retraining for laboratory workers authorized by the IACUC or the Lab Safety Office to oversee and/or use controlled substances for research purposes. This training provides laboratory workers with the knowledge to work safely with controlled substances. Training topics include but are not limited to the following: security and storage, recordkeeping, inventory, inspections, transportation, disposal, theft or loss, spills, incident reporting and policy review. Upon successful completion of this training, laboratory workers will obtain certification that is valid for three years.
Date: Every Other Monday
Time: 10:00AM – 11:00AM
Training Dates and Registration: Contact labsafety@chla.usc.edu to request scheduled training dates and MS Teams registration links.
Laboratory Safety Training
Laboratory safety training is required before starting work in a laboratory. All classes of new laboratory workers (i.e., staff, postdoctoral fellows, undergraduate/graduate students, volunteers, visitors and any other personnel working in a laboratory) are required to complete this mandatory training. This is also a periodic retraining course for current laboratory workers. This training provides laboratory workers with the knowledge to work safely in a laboratory setting. Training topics include but are not limited to the following: identifying laboratory hazards, controlling the hazards, chemical hygiene, regulatory oversight, hazardous waste management and emergency response. Upon successful completion of this training, laboratory workers will obtain certification that is valid for one year.
Date: Every Other Tuesday
Time: 1:00PM – 3:00PM
Training Dates and Registration: Contact labsafety@chla.usc.edu to request scheduled training dates and MS Teams registration links.
OSHA Bloodborne Pathogens Training
The California Occupational Safety and Health Administration (Cal/OSHA) Bloodborne Pathogens (BBP) Standard (8 CCR 5193) applies to all individuals who could "reasonably anticipate", as a result of performing their job tasks, risk of exposure to blood or other potentially infectious materials (OPIM). This Cal/OSHA standard requires OSHA BBP training for all applicable individuals initially and annually thereafter. This IBC mandated self-paced online training is readily available daily through the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) Program for initial training and annual retraining.
This training is designed to provide a basic understanding of the OSHA BBP standard, hepatitis B virus vaccination, labeling, engineering controls, universal precautions, work practices and emergency response procedures. For instructions on how to complete this training view CITI OSHA BBP Training Instructions. Upon successful completion of this training, individuals will obtain certification that is valid for one year.
Particularly Hazardous Substances Training
This IBC mandated training is required for initial and periodic retraining for laboratory workers who work with particularly hazardous substances (i.e., chemicals or drugs) for research purposes. Particularly hazardous substances include select carcinogens, reproductive toxins, acutely/highly toxic chemicals and chemotherapeutic/cytotoxic drugs that pose serious and potentially irreversible health hazards. Due to their significant potential for harm, work with these substances requires adoption of additional safe work practices to further control exposure. Training topics include but are not limited to the following: planning and preparation, exposure risks, work practices, PPE, containment equipment, waste management and emergency response. Upon successful completion of this training, laboratory workers will obtain certification that is valid for three years.
Date: Every Other Wednesday
Time: 10:00AM – 11:00AM
Training Dates and Registration: Contact labsafety@chla.usc.edu to request scheduled training dates and MS Teams registration links.
Principles of Biosafety Training
This IBC mandated training is required for initial and periodic retraining for laboratory workers who work with biohazardous or potentially biohazardous materials such as infectious microorganisms, human derived materials (e.g., blood, body fluids, unfixed tissues, cell lines), recombinant DNA/RNA, synthetic nucleic acid molecules, viral vectors and toxins. This training provides laboratory workers with the knowledge to work safely with biohazardous materials. Training topics include but are not limited to the following: regulatory oversight, work practices, routes of entry, hazard controls, containment equipment, risk management, waste management and emergency response. Upon successful completion of this training, laboratory workers will obtain certification that is valid for three years.
Date: Every Other Thursday
Time: 10:00AM – 11:30AM
Training Dates and Registration: Contact labsafety@chla.usc.edu to request scheduled training dates and MS Teams registration links.
Shipping Biological Materials and Dry Ice Training
This IBC mandated training is required for initial and periodic retraining for laboratory workers involved in the shipping of biological materials and dry ice classified as Dangerous Goods. This training provides laboratory workers with the certification and knowledge to safely prepare, handle, pack and ship Dangerous Goods. This training is required every three years and is designed to meet the requirements of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Upon successful completion of this training, laboratory workers will obtain shipping certification that is valid for three years to ship the following:
- Category A Infectious Substances
- Category B Biological Substances
- Exempt Human Specimens
- Exempt Animal Specimens
- Genetically Modified Organisms
- Genetically Modified Microorganisms
- Dry Ice
Date: Every Other Wednesday
Time: 1:00PM – 2:00PM
Training Dates and Registration: Contact labsafety@chla.usc.edu to request scheduled training dates and MS Teams registration links.
Viral Vectors and BSL-2+ Training
This IBC mandated training is required for initial and periodic retraining for laboratory workers who work with viral vectors or conduct BSL-2 enhanced work practices (i.e., BSL-2+). This training provides laboratory workers with the knowledge to work with viral vectors and conduct BSL-2 enhanced work practices safely. Training topics include but are not limited to the following: regulatory oversight, CDC and NIH guidelines, risk assessment, viral vector design, biosafety levels, risk groups, work practices, PPE, containment equipment and emergency response. Upon successful completion of this training, laboratory workers will obtain certification that is valid for three years.
Date: Every Other Monday
Time: 1:00PM – 2:00PM
Training Dates and Registration: Contact labsafety@chla.usc.edu to request scheduled training dates and MS Teams registration links.