Who Should complete the Chemical Hygiene Plan (CHP) Assessment?

The Chemical Hygiene Plan (CHP) is Texas Tech University's safety plan when working with physical and chemical hazards. Although the subtitle, “Laboratory Safety Manual,” may seem to target only labs, the CHP is relevant to work in studios, field sites and any other areas in which hazards may be present. The CHP discusses not only prudent practices for work with regulated chemicals, many of which are used in agriculture, engineering and studio arts, but it also covers topics such as minors participating in on-campus experiences and provides templates for group safety plans.

As part of ongoing monitoring by the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB), Texas Tech needs to demonstrate that all personnel working with, or who are responsible for, physical or chemical hazards are aware of our CHP (see Recommendation no. 2010-5-I-TX-R3). In early 2013, the Texas Tech Institutional Laboratory Safety Committee (ILSC) completed a major revision of the CHP and recommended that all individuals working with these hazards demonstrate knowledge of the CHP by taking an open book test called the CHP Assessment.

Who Should Complete the CHP Assessment?

In April 2013, former Provost Bob Smith and then-Interim President Lawrence Schovanec asked everyone who works with chemicals or other hazards to complete the CHP Assessment (March 13 request for completion of CHP assessment); and President Duane Nellis added his support in August 2013 (Safety Letter from President Nellis) and asked deans and chairs to lead Texas Tech's safety efforts.

Several groups have made the core information in the CHP (roughly pages 1-36; 70-74; and 82-84) part of employee orientation and student training in teaching and research labs. Examples include courses in the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry and the Whitacre College of Engineering and the employee orientation program in the Operations Division.

As deans and chairs decide who needs to demonstrate familiarity with the CHP, several have asked for specific recommendations. The ILSC, Environmental Health and Safety (EH&S) and the Office of Research & Innovation recommend that the following members of the Texas Tech community complete the CHP Assessment:

• Administrators whose faculty, staff or students may work with hazards in their field, laboratory or studio work
• Faculty who may work with hazards
• Faculty whose students may work with hazards
• Faculty preparing students for careers in fields that may use hazards
• Students and staff whose work, including coursework, may involve hazards
• Students whose programs have “responsible conduct of research” requirements, such as those required by NSF, USDA/NIFA, and NIH
• Everyone who works in Texas Tech buildings with high concentrations of laboratories and studios, and everyone who works in field sites, laboratories and studios that contain hazards, as indicated in this table below

If the table below needs corrections, please contact any of the authors of this article.

Alice Young is associate vice president for research/responsible research in the Office of Research & Innovation; Dimitri Pappas is chair of the ILSC and associate professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry; Matt Roe is environmental safety manager in EH&S and Jared Martin is laboratory safety manager in EH&S.