PPE Policy for Photos & Video

We know it’s tempting to take the glasses off for a photo. However, the Office of the Provost and Environmental Health and Safety requires that photos and videos showing lab environments depict compliance with the standard safety practices outlined below.

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Expectations for the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) in photos in laboratories

Environmental Health and Safety • March 12, 2015

Laboratory personnel should offer marketing and communications staff, photographers and visitors, at a minimum, safety glasses and lab coats for use in the labs.

Photographs of personnel in Washington University and WashU Medicine laboratories should include the following PPE and safety precautions:

• Safety glasses (or safety goggles or safety glasses with full face shield if there is a splash hazard, or appropriate laser safety glasses, including for photographer, if laser hazard)
• Laboratory coat with sleeves not rolled up (lab coat should be appropriate to the hazard, such as fire resistant lab coats for flammable situations)
• Long pants
• Closed-toe shoes
• Safety gloves appropriate for the hazard – most often seen in labs are the lightweight blue nitrile gloves, or cryogenic gloves when handling liquid nitrogen
• Chemical Fume Hood with sash as low as possible
• Biological Safety Cabinet with sash as low as possible
• Safety equipment, such as eyewashes, safety showers and fire extinguishers should not be blocked
• Containers should have label on them that identify the contents. Chemical container labels should also identify chemical hazards
• No evidence of food or drink, including chewing gum, in the labs
• In shops, no loose clothes, hair or jewelry

Please contact Environmental Health and Safety, ehs@wustl.edu, 314-362-6816, or the Institutional Biological and Chemical Safety Committee (IBC), if you have any questions or concerns. Thank you.

ALL PHOTO & VIDEO RESOURCES