York University
Laboratory Decommissioning Procedure
Purpose
To ensure that University research and teaching laboratories, when vacated, are free from
all biological, chemical, physical, and radioactive hazards as well as any surface
contamination from such hazardous materials. This procedure shall apply to all
University Faculties with research and teaching laboratories.
RESPONSIBILITIES
1)
Department Chair
The Department Chair shall:
a) Ensure that all Principal Investigators/Faculty members in charge of a laboratory
space in their department are aware of and comply with this procedure including
completion of the Laboratory Decommissioning Form (attached).
b) Notify the Health and Safety Officer in their Faculty if a Principal
Investigator/Faculty member is leaving the University, moving laboratory to
another location, performing renovation to a lab space or closing down a
laboratory.
c) Holds the responsibility for any clean up costs, regulatory actions or fines
resulting from non-compliance with legislated requirements.
2)
Faculty Members or Principal Investigators
1.1 All Faculty members shall ensure that employees in their charge who are conducting
laboratory decommissioning and hazardous waste disposal:
a) Are familiar with this procedure as well as York University’s Laboratory Safety
Program (on the Department of Occupational Health and Safety’s (DOHS)
website at: http://www.yorku.ca/dohs/documents/LaboratorySafetyManual.pdf).
b) Are trained in the Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS)
level 2 and any other required health and safety training (e.g., biosafety, radiation
safety, laser safety, Occupational Health and Safety Act of Ontario, etc.).
c) Work in compliance with any other relevant health and safety legislation (e.g.,
NSERC, etc.).
1.2 All Faculty members shall inform the appropriate Department Chair and Faculty
Health and Safety Officer (HSO) of their decommissioning plan at least four weeks
prior to their planned vacancy. In addition:
a) Faculty members may be responsible for the cost of laboratory decommissioning
activities prior to vacating the laboratory and in accordance with the requirements
of this procedure. Policies on costs of laboratory decommissioning are
Department/Faculty specific. As such, these arrangements should be made with
the Faculty HSO or other appropriate designate within the Faculty.
Revised: June 2012
1
1.3 Upon completion of the laboratory decommissioning, contact the Faculty HSO and
DOHS to inspect the laboratory prior to vacancy. The Faculty member will be expected
to submit a signed Completed Laboratory Decommissioning form following this
inspection (see page seven).
Research Laboratories
1.4 All supervisors of research laboratories (i.e., the Faculty member in charge of the
laboratory, such as the principal researcher, primary investigator, etc.) shall be
responsible for the proper decommissioning and decontamination of all equipment,
facilities and workplaces within their laboratories before vacating these spaces. In
addition:
a) All employees in research laboratories (e.g., RAs, GAs, post-docs, etc.) shall be
responsible for the clean up of all biological, chemical, physical, and radioactive
hazards upon completion of their research/academic project. This shall include
decontamination of any equipment and associated workplaces used by such
employees.
1.5 All supervisors of teaching laboratories (i.e., the person who determines the
laboratory structure, such as the course director or his/her designate, etc.) shall be
responsible for the clean up of all materials used during the course. This clean up
shall occur at the end of the semester or upon completion of the course, as is
appropriate. The course director may delegate this work to laboratory technicians but
the ultimate responsibility remains with the course director. In addition:
a) In the case that a teaching laboratory is to be decommissioned (i.e., no longer to
be used as a teaching laboratory), the Department Chair (or an appropriate
designate) shall have ultimate responsibility in ensuring that such spaces are
properly decommissioned.
3)
Faculty Health and Safety Officer (HSO)
The Faculty Health and Safety Officer shall:
a)
b)
c)
d)
4)
Assist the PIs and/or Faculty members with decommissioning process.
Notify DOHS when a lab is being vacated.
Contact DOHS if any assistance is needed during laboratory decommissioning
Maintains record of documentation related to decommissioned laboratories.
Department of Occupational Health and Safety
2.1 DOHS shall provide advice, where needed, regarding decontamination of surfaces,
disposal of hazardous wastes and/or planned transfer of any hazardous materials to
other institutions or other off-site locations.
2.2 DOHS shall provide post-decommissioning laboratory clearance verification by
inspecting the laboratory with the Faculty member and Faculty HSO.
Revised: June 2012
2
PROCEDURE
Under no circumstance is discharge of laboratory or industrial waste allowed to the
municipal storm or sanitary sewer system. This practice is strictly prohibited under the
City of Toronto Works Departments and Water and Wastewater Services bylaws
regarding discharge to municipal sewers.
Notification and Inspection
The laboratory supervisor shall inform the Faculty Health and Safety Officer (HSO) and
DOHS of completion of the decommissioning. The Faculty HSO, DOHS and the
vacating Faculty member will perform a final inspection of the laboratory at that time.
Should a laboratory be vacated without proper decommissioning, laboratory supervisors
shall be responsible for the cost of decommissioning services. This may include:
a) Identification of unknowns (e.g., improperly labeled or unlabeled hazardous
materials).
b) Clean up of spills or decontamination of surfaces or equipment within the
laboratory.
c) Inventory, packing, sorting, and disposal of abandoned hazardous materials,
equipment and personal effects.
d) Services of an external contractor for any of the above.
Laboratories shall be decommissioned in accordance with the following procedures.
Biological
Biological waste (e.g., cellular matter, cultured specimens, microbiologicals,
human/animal fluids, and any laboratory consumables contaminated with the previous
materials such as gloves, paper towels, etc.) must be autoclaved prior to disposal.
Autoclave then dispose of such waste in the red biohazard bins. Under no
circumstances are biological materials or items contaminated by biological
materials to be disposed of in regular waste bins.
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Anatomical waste (e.g., human/animal tissues, cadavers or other human/animal
parts, etc.) must be labeled, sealed in plastic bags and placed into a refrigerator or
freezer for pick up. Currently, the Faculty of Science and Engineering (FSE),
Faculty of Health, and certain authorized labs within the Faculty of Fine Arts use
the refrigerator and freezer located in Farquharson G111 for this purpose. Please
note that special arrangements must be made with FSE for this privilege. Contact
DOHS for additional information, if required.
All other biologically contaminated items (e.g., consumables such as gloves,
paper towels, etc., glassware, Petri dishes, etc. but NOT including sharps) must be
autoclaved then disposed of appropriately. This may be via the red bins located
on the second floor of Farquharson (for FSE) or in the garbage (for Arts). Contact
DOHS for additional information, if required.
Any surfaces contaminated by biohazardous materials must be decontaminated
appropriately. Contact DOHS for additional information, if required.
Revised: June 2012
3
Note: For details on biological waste disposal, refer to Biosafety Guideline:
http://www.yorku.ca/dohs/documents/BiohazardousWasteDisposal.pdf
Chemical
All waste chemicals (including expired or unused human and/or animal drugs) must be
properly labeled and sealed prior to disposal. Under no circumstances are chemical
agents to be disposed of in regular waste bins.
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Waste labels for FSE, Faculty of Health and Fine Arts are available from Science Stores in
Farquharson or Petrie Science or may be purchased from suppliers (via University Procurement
Services).
When transporting chemical waste bottles/containers for disposal, avoid breakage or
contamination of other surfaces. This may require the use of boxes or bins with dividers and
vermiculite. Ensure that all bottles are tightly sealed. Only sturdy carts and/or sturdy bins or
boxes shall be used while transporting these items.
Any contaminated laboratory consumables such as gloves, paper towels, etc. should be disposed
of in sealed plastic bags or air dried in the fumehood then disposed of to reduce/eliminate
chemical odours in garbage bins.
Unknown chemical agents (i.e., bottles with no identifying markings or labels) will not be
accepted for disposal. See Sect. 14 of the Laboratory Safety Program for waste handling and
disposal information: http://www.yorku.ca/dohs/documents/LaboratorySafetyManual.pdf.
Compressed Gas Cylinders
Empty compressed gas cylinders and lecture bottles must be labeled, capped and marked
“Empty” of “MT.” The PIs/Laboratory (area) supervisor should contact the cylinder
supplier to arrange for removal of the cylinder(s). Whether empty or full, all cylinders
must be transported with the cylinder valve in the closed position, with the cylinder cap
on and using a cylinder dolly only. Cylinder dollies are available from different sources;
check with your Faculty HSO.
Consumer Goods
Unused hazardous consumer products (e.g., cleaning solvents, paints, thinners, oils,
pesticides, bleach, etc.) must be disposed of through the Grounds and Vehicles division
of Facilities Services (a service request must be submitted to Facilities Services).
Revised: June 2012
4
Equipment
Refrigerators, autoclaves, ovens, freezers, incubators, fume hoods, centrifuges, and any
other laboratory equipment must be emptied and decontaminated. Contact Grounds for
disposal (a service request must be submitted to Facilities Services).
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Perchloric acid fumehoods require special handling. Refer to the “Perchloric
Acid Safety” safety notice on the DOHS website for more information:
http://www.yorku.ca/dohs/safetynotices.htm.
If lasers or x-ray machines are to be disposed of or transferred to another campus
location, DOHS must be notified at ext. 55491.
Fixtures
Lab bench tops, fume hood work surfaces, storage cabinets and shelves, and any other
work surfaces suspected of contamination shall be decontaminated. In most cases, warm
water and soap will be appropriate. Contact DOHS for additional information, if
required.
Glassware and Laboratory Plastic
Glassware and laboratory glassware (e.g., broken or discarded beakers, tubes, sample
vials, pipettes, microscope slides, empty chemical bottles, etc.) should be rinsed of all
visible residue, allowed to dry with the cap off, and collected in a laboratory glass waste
bin. This can be either a large bin provided by the University (often located in the
corridors) or a small bin of some kind that is kept in the laboratory and emptied into a
larger bin when full. The large bins that are provided by the University are usually, but
not always, blue in colour and are available from the Grounds and Vehicles section of
Facilities Services (Grounds). For pick up of a full bin, contact Grounds. Note that the
laboratory glass waste bins are NOT the same as the blue domestic glass recycling bins.
Personal Effects
Signs, posters, textbooks, personal items, and other non-University property shall be
removed. Any materials to be left behind for the next user shall be labeled by the
laboratory supervisor per the Laboratory Safety Program.
Radioactives
Radioisotope laboratories must be decommissioned following strict procedures outlined
in the Radiation Safety Program, section 7, available on the DOHS website, Programs
page: http://www.yorku.ca/dohs/documents/RadiationSafetyManual.pdf. The Radiation
Safety Officer in DOHS must be notified prior to vacating the lab.
Revised: June 2012
5
Sharps
Sharps waste must be disposed of in a hard-shell sharps containers. For FSE, Health and
Fine Arts, these are available from Science Stores in Farquharson or Petrie or may be
purchased from suppliers (via University Procurement Services).
Contact Information
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Faculty of Science and Engineering (FSE):
o Dean’s Office (for the HSO, Executive Officer and/or Chair), ext. 55051
o FSE HSO, ext. 20770
o FSE Facilities Manager, ext. 22322
Faculty of Health
o Dean’s Office (for the HSO, Executive Officer and/or Chair), ext. 55124
o Faculty HSO, ext. 21412
Faculty of Fine Arts
o Dean’s Office (for the HSO, Executive Officer and Chair), ext. 55136
o Faculty HSO, ext. 49595
Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies
o Department of Geography, ext. 55107
 Laboratory Technician, ext. 22418
Department of Occupational Health and Safety, ext. 55491
o Chemical Control, Biological Safety, Radiation Safety, and/or Laser
Safety Officers
Facilities Services, ext. 22401
o Grounds and Vehicles section
o Caretaking Services section
Revised: June 2012
6
York University
Laboratory Decommissioning Form
Faculty:__________________________ Department:___________________________
Building:_____________________________Room:_____________________________
MATERIAL COMPLETED ACTIVITIES
YES
NO
All biohazardous waste has been disposed of properly (e.g.
autoclaved/disinfected etc.)
Biohazards
Glassware and/or equipment (e.g. biosafety cabinet, incubators, ovens,
refrigerators, freezers etc). that can be re-used have been
decontaminated.
Biosafety Officer has been contacted about the permit termination
All containers of chemicals have WHMIS compliant labels.
Chemicals
All glassware and containers, including beakers, flasks, evaporating
dishes, etc. have been emptied, cleaned of any residue and disposed of.
Hazardous chemical waste containers were labeled with proper
hazardous labels and disposed of through Science Stores.
All compressed gas cylinders are returned back to the Supplier and/or
disposed of through Science Stores.
Radioactive
All radioactive materials and waste has been disposed of and the
laboratory has been surveyed, decontaminated if necessary, and
declared free of any radioactive contamination.
Radiation Safety Officer has been contacted about the decertification
process and radioisotope permit.
General
Other hazardous materials
removed/disposed of properly.
present
in
the
lab
have
been
Laboratory work surfaces (floors, bench tops, counters, fume-hoods,
sinks, and drawers) have been cleaned or decontaminated and cleared
of any garbage, residues or debris.
Declaration:
I, _________________________________________, declare that the laboratory (space) named above
has been decommissioned in accordance with the York University Laboratory Decommissioning
Procedure. I have notified the Health and Safety Officer (HSO) in my home Faculty and the
Department of Occupational Health and Safety (DOHS).
Printed Name:
_________________________________________________
Signed: _________________________________________________________________
Dated: __________________________________________________________________
Approved by:
HSO’s Signature: __________________________________________________________________
DOHS Member’s Signature: _________________________________________________________
Revised: June 2012
7
N/A