While the donning of appropriate safety equipment – gloves, lab coats/gowns, and safety glasses – is critical for safeguarding personnel and animal safety within the laboratory and animal care facility, NOT wearing this equipment outside of designated research spaces is just as important.
Potential chemical or biological contamination may not always be visible. Removing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) prior to leaving your work area and regardless of visible soiling will help prevent cross-contamination between facilities.
It also protects the public from potential exposure to animal allergens and other hazards that may be carried on lab coats, gowns, and/or gloves.
When you are seen wearing this PPE in public spaces/common areas, it gives the impression that you are handling something that is potentially harmful to others.
As such, PPE should NOT be worn in the following locations:
- Corridors/hallways,
- Elevators,
- Restrooms, and
- Other areas outside of your laboratory.
Please take the following additional precautions when using gloves:
- If you are transporting hazardous materials between locations, use secondary containers without gloves. Alternatively, use an ungloved hand to operate doors and a gloved hand to carry items. Remember, anything that you have already touched could be contaminated, so if you are pushing a cart with a gloved hand and then use that same hand to press an elevator button, that button may now be contaminated.
- Always wash your hands after removing gloves and before leaving your work area.
- Remove and dispose of gloves BEFORE answering the phone or touching equipment/doorknobs.
- NEVER reuse disposable gloves.
- If you see someone using gloves improperly, help protect yourself and your coworkers by speaking up and reminding the individual about proper glove use.
Where to Learn More
Visit U-M’s Environment, Health & Safety (EHS) website for more information about gloves, other PPE requirements, and resources for proper transport of hazardous materials, including instructions for containment and packaging.
General, non-urgent inquiries may also be sent to [email protected].