Lab Clean-Out
Hazardous Materials
Preparation and Procedures
When occupants of a lab leave the university or move to another lab, the current lab must be properly cleared of all chemicals and waste.
The clean-out process can be time consuming. The following recommendations can ease the process.
When Actively Working in a Lab
The first step to ensure a hassle free lab clean-out is to maintain the working lab.
- Reduce the amount of chemicals and materials stored in the lab by buying only what you need.
- Maintain and routinely check the chemical inventory. Have unwanted or expired items picked up by EHS.
- Immediately request pickup of any compromised containers.
- Submit waste pickup requests often.
- Develop a program to redistribute usable materials and chemicals.
Clean-out Process
Advance planning and organization are imperative to the lab clean-out process
- Plan ahead: Be aware of time-driven deadlines and relay them to EHS as far in advance as possible.
- Set up separate staging areas for each type of waste in your lab (chemical, radiological or biological.)
- Ensure all containers are properly labeled. Check that lids are secure and fitted properly as you work.
- Segregate containers with unknown contents and submit on a separate pickup request. Provide any information about the container that may be available such as legible areas of a degraded label.
- Organize containers in a well defined order. Mark each container and/or place them in the staging area to correspond with the order entered into the pickup request.
- Submit multiple pickups for extensive clean-outs or when staging and organization space in the lab is limited.
Contact
Environmental Health and Safety
hazwaste@purdue.edu
765-494-0121