Visitors
Welcome to NEWT! We encourage visitors to ask any safety questions before or during their visit. As a visitor, you will be provided appropriate personal protection equipment and reminded of safety and emergency protocols by individual faculty, students, and staff while touring our facilities. All NEWT team members are responsible for the safety of visitors, and everyone should watch NEWT’s yearly safety discussion on Vimeo available here.
Download our safety plan here.
NEWT’s Hazards List contains the possible hazards and Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) of substances/materials present in our labs. Make sure to check your lab inventory frequently, and to update the hazards list when needed–click on the button below to access the list and instructions.
Before visiting our facilities, familiarize yourself with the respective campus safety rules and emergency procedures. If you have any questions about safety do not hesitate to contact your institution safety officer (listed below) or NEWT headquarters.
Rice University – Environmental Health and Safety
(https://safety.rice.edu/)
Sr. Safety Specialist – Noel Nguyen (nn6@rice.edu)
Incident & near-miss reporting: https://safety.rice.edu/incident-reports
Arizona State University – Dean’s Office of Infrastructure and Safety (https://safe.engineering.asu.edu/)
Asst. Dir in Charge of Fulton Safety Office – Rita Bottesch (Rita.Bottesch@asu.edu)
Laboratory Manager SSEBE – Stan Klonowski (stan.klonowski@asu.edu) Laboratory Manager SEMTE – Fred Pena (fred.pena@asu.edu)
Incident & near-miss reporting: https://cfo.asu.edu/workplace-community-safety
University of Texas at El Paso – Environmental Health and Safety
(https://www.utep.edu/ehs/)
Safety Consultant – Gus Rojo (grojo@utep.edu)
Incident & near-miss reporting: https://www.utep.edu/ehs/_Files/docs/Forms/EHS-Injury-Incident-Report.pdf
Yale University – Environmental Health and Safety
(https://ehs.yale.edu/)
Safety Advisor – Shumin Bian (shumin.bian@yale.edu)
Incident & near-miss reporting: https://ehs.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/Emergency-Procedures/Report-Accident-Injury.pdf
If you have suggestions on how to improve safety conditions in NEWT labs, click on the button below to access the NEWT Anonymous Reporting Survey. Choose the Make a Recommendation or Suggestion option to enter your suggestion. If this is an emergency, an imminent hazard, or you wish to report an incident or near-miss, follow the procedures mandated by your institution (see links above); this link is for general suggestions only.
Safety Resources
General Lab Safety
- Prudent Practices in the Laboratory – free from the National Academies: https://www.nap.edu/catalog/12654/prudent-practices-in-the-laboratory-handling-and-management-of-chemical
- OSHA 2011: Laboratory Safety Guidance: https://www.osha.gov/Publications/laboratory/OSHA3404laboratory-safety-guidance.pdf
Working safely with nanomaterials
- Prudent Practices in the Laboratory referenced above has a section on Working with Nanoparticles (Chapter 6.J, p. 141)
- Rice University Nanosafety Guide: https://safety.rice.edu/sites/g/files/bxs2966/files/2021-02/Rice%20University%20Nanosafety%20Guide%20Final.pdf
- Duke University Working Safely with Nanomaterials in the Lab: https://www.safety.duke.edu/sites/default/files/nanomaterial%20information%20sheet.pdf
- ACS Nanotechnology Safety Resources: https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/about/governance/committees/chemical-safety/publications-resources/nanotechnology-safety-resources.html
- OSHA Fact Sheet: Working Safely with Nanomaterials (2013): https://www.osha.gov/Publications/OSHA_FS-3634.pdf
- NIH Nanotechnology Safety and Health Program (2014): https://www.ors.od.nih.gov/sr/dohs/Documents/Nanotechnology Safety and Health Program.pdf
- NIOSH General Safe Practices for Working with Engineered Nanomaterials in Research Laboratories (2012): https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2012-147/pdfs/2012-147.pdf
Safety Onboarding Presentation & Safety Moment Library
NEWT’s safety onboarding presentation is available on Vimeo (https://vimeo.com/507272413). And the Safety Moment Library can be accessed by clicking the button below.
If you have any questions about safety, do not hesitate to contact your local safety officer (listed above) or NEWT headquarters.