Accidents and Injuries

Part of your safety plan and annual training must include how to respond to incidents in your work area, including injuries or damage to property. Some incidents that require an immediate response include:

  • Injuries (minor or serious)
  • Fire
  • Chemical or biological spills
  • Chemical, biological, or radiological exposure
  • Electric shock
  • Other exposures to physical hazards, such as heat, cold, laser light, etc..

Anytime an incident occurs in your work area, including near misses, the faculty advisor is to be informed immediately. Depending on the severity of the incident, the faculty advisor may be required to contact HSRM for consultation or to initiate an investigation. Injuries or damage to property should be immediately reported to the Office of Risk Management (Bodily Injury/Property Damage Incident Report). Investigations may be warranted for even minor incidents to prevent them from occurring again and potentially leading to a more serious outcome. Additional information on General Emergency Procedures can be found in the UMN Chemical Hygiene Plan.

Chemical or Biological Spills

If your work includes the use of hazardous chemicals or biological materials, you must be prepared to respond to a spill. Your response to a spill will be determined by several factors:

  • Size of the spill
  • Location of the spill
  • The material that spilled
  • The level of spill response training
  • Access to proper spill equipment and PPE

For smaller spills on lower-hazard materials, students are generally equipped to clean up the material. Remember, however, that you are not required to clean a spill if you do not feel comfortable or able to do so. HSRM is available 24/7 to answer questions or concerns regarding spills, no matter the size. If a spill, or other incident, occurs off-campus, HSRM may recommend contacting local emergency responders.

If a spill occurs in a public location, such as a hallway, an immediate response by HSRM or emergency personnel (police or fire) will be required. While waiting for responders to arrive, evacuate the area, or building, depending on the size of the spill and materials involved. Additional information on responding to spills can be found in the HSRM document library.

Fires

Any fire, even if small and quickly extinguished, is to be reported to the faculty advisor and HSRM right away. A fire may indicate a flaw in your procedure, which should be reviewed and modified as needed. If a fire extinguisher is used, DO NOT place it back in its storage location. Contact Facilities Management to request a new extinguisher. 

Groups that work with flammable materials should consider completing the online Fire Extinguisher Selection and Use training course. HSRM also provides hands-on training.