Are you new to Bowdoin?
If you will be working in a lab as a Professor, Researcher, Lab Instructor, Lab Tech, or Visiting Professor, then you will need to complete at least TWO trainings: Hazardous Waste Management Training and Laboratory Safety Training - both are accessed through Canvas. See below for instructions . These trainings are required by OSHA and EPA and each training must be repeated annually. If you will be working with live animals you may need additional training. Contact the Animal Care Supervisor (Marko Melendy 725-3517, mmelendy@bowdoin.edu ) for further information and to schedule a training.
Are you a student participating in an Honors Project or Independent Study?
You will need to complete at least TWO trainings: Hazardous Waste Management Training and Laboratory Safety Training -both are accessed through Canvas. See below for instructions These trainings are required by OSHA and EPA and each training must be repeated annually. If you will be working with live animals you may need additional training. Contact the Animal Care Supervisor (Marko Melendy 725-3517, mmelendy@bowdoin.edu) for further information and to schedule a training.
Are you a student Lab Assistant or are you doing glassware washing or other peripheral work in a lab?
You will need to have a blue card showing completion and currency of the full Laboratory Safety Training or of the abbreviated Lab Safety Awareness Training. Lab Safety Awareness Training is a short, self-paced training that involves viewing a Powerpoint and completing a short quiz on paper. This abbreviated training is not suitable training for those students doing normal lab work in research labs. You may complete the training on your own and email an image of the completed paper quiz along with a completed training attestation card (re text in RED, below) to the Office of Laboratory Safety to receive a blue card. Click here to get the Powerpoint and Quiz .
Are you a Faculty or Staff person working with vertebrates or cephalopods?
If you will be working with live vertebrate animals or cephalopods, you will need to take an online training module titled “Working With the IACUC for Investigators and Staff" at CITIProgram.org. See the Bowdoin IACUC page for more information. If you will be working with recombinant DNA, synthetic nucleic acid molecules, biohazardous agents, or biotoxins in College facilities, you will also need to complete “Initial Biosafety Training for Investigators and Staff” available online through CITIProgram.org. See the Bowdoin IBC page for more information. This training needs to be repeated every three years.
Are you a student who needs access to the vivarium or are working with vertebrates?
Students needing access to the Vivarium or who will be coming into direct and repeated contact with live vertebrate animals will need to take an online training module titled “Working With the IACUC for Students" at CITIProgram.org. Students working with recombinant DNA, synthetic nucleic acid molecules, biohazardous agents, or biotoxins will also need to complete “Initial Biosafety Training for Students” available online through CITIProgram.org. This training will need to be repeated annually. Students should contact their professors or advisor to verify which training is required for their work.
Do you need to renew your training?
Look at your Training Certification Card (or “Blue Card”) to see when your current trainings expire. If your training expiration date is approaching you will need to renew your training. Most laboratory workers will need to repeat at least TWO trainings: Hazardous Waste Management Training and Laboratory Safety Training - both are accessed through Canvas. See below for instructions These trainings are required by OSHA and EPA and each training must be repeated annually. If you will be working with live animals you may need additional training. Contact the Animal Care Supervisor (Marko Melendy 725-3517, mmelendy@bowdoin.edu) for further information and to schedule a training.
How do I access online trainings?
Both the online Lab Safety Training and Hazardous Waste Training are set up in a single Canvas course The following steps will get you to the Office of Laboratory Safety Canvas training site
1 - Visit this page to enroll in the Canvas Lab Safety Training course - https://bowdoin.instructure.com/enroll/RATJ7F
2 - Click on the ‘Enroll in Course’ button:
3 - Click on the ‘Go to the Course’ button:
You will then be placed in the organization and can begin the training.
The Office of Laboratory Safety organization will henceforth be available to you via your Canvas Dashboard upon login.
When finished with the on-line trainings, submit a training attestation form (See "How do I get a Blue Card?", below).
How Do I Get a Blue Card?
In order to get a Training Certification Card (aka: Blue Card) please complete and “sign” the training attestation form (below) and email it to rbernier@bowdoin.edu . Your attestation form will be put on file and your Blue Card will be prepared and delivered to your lab or your lab advisor.
Training Attestation Form
(click on form below)
What is "Laboratory Specific Training?
Some labs have specialized hazards that necessitates workers in that lab to have training specific to that lab's hazards. If you are a student working in these areas, you must obtain this training from the professor responsible for that lab. The nature of this training must be documented and the date of completion and type of Lab Specific training should be indicated on the Training Certification Card (or “Blue Card”). Maintaining documentation of this training is the responsibility of the professor responsible for that lab. Laboratory Specific Training Forms are available on the Lab Safety page.
What is the "Laboratory Training Certification Program"?
The Laboratory Training Certification Program was developed in an effort to manage and document each individual laboratory worker’s compliance with their particular training requirements. The program applies equally to faculty, staff, and students who work in the labs as the regulations apply to all lab workers. The program allows each individual to: a) know what trainings are required for the lab they are working within and; b) keep track of their own compliance with respect to required training.
Program Details
There are two parts to the Laboratory Training Certification Program. The first part involves a responsible person determining and clearly displaying what training is required to work in a particular laboratory. The second part involves individual lab workers documenting and clearly displaying proof of their up-to-date training. Each part of the program involves displaying the information on a standardized form.
Part One – Laboratory Training Requirements Card
Each Faculty or Staff member responsible for a laboratory space will determine, based on the Lab Hazard Analysis, what specific types of training are required to work in their lab space. This information will be indicated on a standardized green “Lab Card” (Fig 1), and displayed on the laboratory door near the pink Emergency Information Card visible from the hallway (Fig 2).
Fig.1
Fig.2
Part Two – Individual Laboratory Training Certificate
Each individual working in the lab will affix on the inside of the lab door their Laboratory Training Certificate, also known as their “Blue Card” (Fig 3). These Blue Cards will be clearly visible from inside the lab (Fig 4). These certificates will be signed and dated by each trainer at the time of the individual’s training, and will indicate the nature of the training, the date the training was successfully completed, and the date that the training will expire. Faculty or Staff persons responsible for the lab will be responsible for ensuring that all lab workers in their lab have completed the required training and that each lab worker’s training is current (has not expired) before allowing them to work in the lab.
Fig.3
Fig.4
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
*Additional training may be required per the terms and conditions of grants that fund lab activities, research, and/or fellowships.