@pennehrs.bsky.social
Official account for the University of Pennsylvania's Environmental Health & Radiation Safety Office! Follow us for upcoming events and reminders!
Thank you to all who came out to our Biosafety Month events in October! We have one more event on Nov. 6 at Penn Vet in Hill Pavilion lobby from 10 - 11 AM. Don't miss your chance to learn, snack and ask our biosafety officers questions!
November 3, 2025 at 2:26 PM
Thank you to all who came out to our Biosafety Month events in October! We have one more event on Nov. 6 at Penn Vet in Hill Pavilion lobby from 10 - 11 AM. Don't miss your chance to learn, snack and ask our biosafety officers questions!
Last week, we celebrated Mole Day with @pennchemistry.bsky.social and Fire & Emergency Services in a First Aid in the Labs awareness program. Check out this flyer to post in your lab in case of emergency: ehrs.upenn.edu/sites/defaul.... Thanks to all who came out and made this possible!
October 30, 2025 at 12:45 PM
Last week, we celebrated Mole Day with @pennchemistry.bsky.social and Fire & Emergency Services in a First Aid in the Labs awareness program. Check out this flyer to post in your lab in case of emergency: ehrs.upenn.edu/sites/defaul.... Thanks to all who came out and made this possible!
Our Shut the Sash campaign is in full swing this month. Representatives from our office and Penn Sustainability will be looking for labs who close their fume hood sashes when not in use - a safer and a more energy and cost-efficient practice! Spread the word to colleagues and labmates!
October 15, 2025 at 2:50 PM
Our Shut the Sash campaign is in full swing this month. Representatives from our office and Penn Sustainability will be looking for labs who close their fume hood sashes when not in use - a safer and a more energy and cost-efficient practice! Spread the word to colleagues and labmates!
Our Lab Safety FAQs have been updated: ehrs.upenn.edu/health-safet...! Learn about Biosafety Month events, ongoing DCM sampling, and answers to some common waste disposal questions.
Lab Safety Quick FAQs | PennEHRS
Last updated: 10/2025 Quick answers to your most frequently asked questions.
ehrs.upenn.edu
October 8, 2025 at 2:49 PM
Our Lab Safety FAQs have been updated: ehrs.upenn.edu/health-safet...! Learn about Biosafety Month events, ongoing DCM sampling, and answers to some common waste disposal questions.
October is Biosafety Month! Come out and celebrate with our biosafety team as we table across campus throughout the month with your answers to biosafety questions, as well as snacks and giveaways! Schedule of events can be found here: tinyurl.com/Biosafety-Aw...
October 1, 2025 at 3:34 PM
October is Biosafety Month! Come out and celebrate with our biosafety team as we table across campus throughout the month with your answers to biosafety questions, as well as snacks and giveaways! Schedule of events can be found here: tinyurl.com/Biosafety-Aw...
Thanks to everyone who visited our table at the Penn Ready event on Friday! It was great connecting with our partners in health and safety to support team-based initiatives and responses. The side-by-side burn demonstration with fire safety was especially informative.
September 29, 2025 at 3:22 PM
Thanks to everyone who visited our table at the Penn Ready event on Friday! It was great connecting with our partners in health and safety to support team-based initiatives and responses. The side-by-side burn demonstration with fire safety was especially informative.
Our team helped rehome some unneeded labware from our friends at the LRSM to our partners at Community College of Philadelphia. The collaboration enabled cost efficiency, space savings, and sustainable practices. Does your lab have extra items? Let us know: upenn.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...
September 19, 2025 at 3:42 PM
Our team helped rehome some unneeded labware from our friends at the LRSM to our partners at Community College of Philadelphia. The collaboration enabled cost efficiency, space savings, and sustainable practices. Does your lab have extra items? Let us know: upenn.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...
Thank you to all who came by our table at Cores Day yesterday! The Smilow lobby was buzzing with the energy of researchers excited for another year of life-saving and world-changing work. We are so proud to support the success of our researchers.
September 12, 2025 at 1:13 PM
Thank you to all who came by our table at Cores Day yesterday! The Smilow lobby was buzzing with the energy of researchers excited for another year of life-saving and world-changing work. We are so proud to support the success of our researchers.
Come out to table 8 to see the EHRS biosafety team and Green Labs and get some goodies to help you be safer in the lab! Presentations at 11:50 and 12:10!
September 11, 2025 at 3:34 PM
Come out to table 8 to see the EHRS biosafety team and Green Labs and get some goodies to help you be safer in the lab! Presentations at 11:50 and 12:10!
It's that time again! If your lab has peroxide formers, this is your reminder to check on them and handle anything that may need attention. Our team is here to help if you're not sure what to do. Here's the SOP for peroxide formers to get you started: ehrs.upenn.edu/health-safet...
September 3, 2025 at 5:41 PM
It's that time again! If your lab has peroxide formers, this is your reminder to check on them and handle anything that may need attention. Our team is here to help if you're not sure what to do. Here's the SOP for peroxide formers to get you started: ehrs.upenn.edu/health-safet...
Thank you to @pennchemistry.bsky.social for inviting our team to welcome researchers to the Fall term with our annual safety meeting. Covering topics identified through conversations with the department, we also discussed updated regulations and events. We wish everyone a safe and successful term!
August 27, 2025 at 1:28 PM
Thank you to @pennchemistry.bsky.social for inviting our team to welcome researchers to the Fall term with our annual safety meeting. Covering topics identified through conversations with the department, we also discussed updated regulations and events. We wish everyone a safe and successful term!
Members of our X-ray safety team attended the American Association of Physicists in Medicine meeting last month as they maintain certifications and keep up with advances and regulatory changes in the field and in the residency program. Doing our part to keep Penn safe!
August 20, 2025 at 2:49 PM
Members of our X-ray safety team attended the American Association of Physicists in Medicine meeting last month as they maintain certifications and keep up with advances and regulatory changes in the field and in the residency program. Doing our part to keep Penn safe!
Congrats to the 25 Penn labs that participated in the 2025 Annual Freezer Challenge, an international competition focusing on sustainable actions taken for cold storage management. Penn landed in 18th place out of 292 overall organizations across 29 countries, saving over 372.5 kWh/day!
July 28, 2025 at 2:09 PM
Congrats to the 25 Penn labs that participated in the 2025 Annual Freezer Challenge, an international competition focusing on sustainable actions taken for cold storage management. Penn landed in 18th place out of 292 overall organizations across 29 countries, saving over 372.5 kWh/day!
Local high school students got the chance to learn about health and safety careers in an afternoon filled with storytelling and activities. They tried on specialty PPE, tested their skills at doffing gloves, and detected radiation in grocery store items (all of us humans contain potassium)!
July 10, 2025 at 7:34 PM
Local high school students got the chance to learn about health and safety careers in an afternoon filled with storytelling and activities. They tried on specialty PPE, tested their skills at doffing gloves, and detected radiation in grocery store items (all of us humans contain potassium)!
It's time for our quarterly Lab Safety FAQs that can be found here: ehrs.upenn.edu/health-safet...
They feature tips for waste disposal, chemical inventory questions, sonicator/homogenizer advice, and advice for labs that are closing or moving. Check it out!
They feature tips for waste disposal, chemical inventory questions, sonicator/homogenizer advice, and advice for labs that are closing or moving. Check it out!
July 3, 2025 at 1:39 PM
It's time for our quarterly Lab Safety FAQs that can be found here: ehrs.upenn.edu/health-safet...
They feature tips for waste disposal, chemical inventory questions, sonicator/homogenizer advice, and advice for labs that are closing or moving. Check it out!
They feature tips for waste disposal, chemical inventory questions, sonicator/homogenizer advice, and advice for labs that are closing or moving. Check it out!
Congratulations to our Shower and Eyewash team that recently completed a full test of all 2,717 eyewashes on campus, submitting work orders for any needed repairs and ensuring all are fully operational and have a maintenance program! Thanks to FRES for their collaboration!
July 1, 2025 at 2:43 PM
Congratulations to our Shower and Eyewash team that recently completed a full test of all 2,717 eyewashes on campus, submitting work orders for any needed repairs and ensuring all are fully operational and have a maintenance program! Thanks to FRES for their collaboration!
This week, we are grateful to our partners at Keen Gas who provided some helpful training on compressed gas safety to our lab workers. Thanks for making it happen and providing the learning from the experts!
June 20, 2025 at 8:20 PM
This week, we are grateful to our partners at Keen Gas who provided some helpful training on compressed gas safety to our lab workers. Thanks for making it happen and providing the learning from the experts!
EHRS recently completed sampling and evaluation of dichloromethane (DCM) use in Penn labs, in accordance with an EPA ruling from 2024. 63% of labs using DCM have since discontinued use, while remaining labs have decreased use and improved workflows for researcher safety.
June 10, 2025 at 1:33 PM
EHRS recently completed sampling and evaluation of dichloromethane (DCM) use in Penn labs, in accordance with an EPA ruling from 2024. 63% of labs using DCM have since discontinued use, while remaining labs have decreased use and improved workflows for researcher safety.
June is National Safety Month! Our EHRS web site has a ton of freely available resources for specialty safety needs associated with chemical, physical, biological and radiological hazards. Come explore: ehrs.upenn.edu and see if you can identify one area of your workspace to make safer this month!
June 6, 2025 at 2:03 PM
June is National Safety Month! Our EHRS web site has a ton of freely available resources for specialty safety needs associated with chemical, physical, biological and radiological hazards. Come explore: ehrs.upenn.edu and see if you can identify one area of your workspace to make safer this month!
Time for our quarterly reminder to check your peroxide formers! To learn more about what to look for, how to keep yourself safe, and what to do if you find a package that looks like this one, visit ehrs.upenn.edu/health-safet.... Photo credit: Stephen F Austin State University
June 2, 2025 at 3:34 PM
Time for our quarterly reminder to check your peroxide formers! To learn more about what to look for, how to keep yourself safe, and what to do if you find a package that looks like this one, visit ehrs.upenn.edu/health-safet.... Photo credit: Stephen F Austin State University
Kicking off the summer with some basics of lab safety for our visiting undergraduate researchers. Welcome to Penn! We are here to answer your lab safety questions: ehrs@ehrs.upenn.edu.
May 28, 2025 at 7:01 PM
Kicking off the summer with some basics of lab safety for our visiting undergraduate researchers. Welcome to Penn! We are here to answer your lab safety questions: ehrs@ehrs.upenn.edu.
Last week, our team spent the day at the PAR Expo educating about and demonstrating radiation monitoring and dispelling myths about radiation. The collaborative energy was electric, and we're grateful especially to CHOP and HUP for their partnership!
May 12, 2025 at 2:15 PM
Last week, our team spent the day at the PAR Expo educating about and demonstrating radiation monitoring and dispelling myths about radiation. The collaborative energy was electric, and we're grateful especially to CHOP and HUP for their partnership!
Last week, @pennchemistry.bsky.social hosted a Safety Round Robin with grad student led hands-on workshops for attendees. After gathering feedback, this safety event scored an 8.1/10 on a scale of enjoyment - a monumental accomplishment! So proud of our student leaders and grateful for their work!
May 8, 2025 at 4:27 PM
Last week, @pennchemistry.bsky.social hosted a Safety Round Robin with grad student led hands-on workshops for attendees. After gathering feedback, this safety event scored an 8.1/10 on a scale of enjoyment - a monumental accomplishment! So proud of our student leaders and grateful for their work!
In our work with Penn Sustainability, we rehomed almost 400 excess boxes of nitrile gloves from @pennengineering.bsky.social to outreach programs, teaching labs, and clinical/teaching spaces in Biology, @pennchemistry.bsky.social , Physics, and Penn Dental. See below to share your excess labware.
April 30, 2025 at 2:18 PM
In our work with Penn Sustainability, we rehomed almost 400 excess boxes of nitrile gloves from @pennengineering.bsky.social to outreach programs, teaching labs, and clinical/teaching spaces in Biology, @pennchemistry.bsky.social , Physics, and Penn Dental. See below to share your excess labware.
Tomorrow is the last chance during Earth Week events to learn about the freezer challenge to promote safer and more efficient freezer use. We'll be tabling in Chemistry from 11 - 1. For more information about Earth Week, check out: www.sustainability.upenn.edu/get-involved....
Earth Week
Earth Week happens every April during the week of Earth Day and presents cross-disciplinary events to educate and inspire action around environmental justice, climate, and nature-based solutions.Submi...
www.sustainability.upenn.edu
April 23, 2025 at 7:36 PM
Tomorrow is the last chance during Earth Week events to learn about the freezer challenge to promote safer and more efficient freezer use. We'll be tabling in Chemistry from 11 - 1. For more information about Earth Week, check out: www.sustainability.upenn.edu/get-involved....