Clearance of Equipment & Labs

Equipment Clearance:

Items and equipment which were used with radioactive materials must be cleared by the Environmental Health & Safety (EH&S) Department prior to being discarded as waste, transferred to another location, or sent out for repair. All equipment needing clearance, whether used with radioactive materials or not, must be cleaned with alcohol or a 10% bleach solution before clearance. Equipment used with radioactive materials must be wipe tested for contamination by the laboratories personnel prior to the equipment being cleared. Once the equipment has been wipe tested the results must be sent to the Radiation Safety Officer for review. The laboratory may then complete one of the Clearance Request Forms below to have their equipment cleared by EH&S. The Radiation Safety Officer must sign off on the clearance of equipment used with radioactive materials. 

Self-Clearance Equipment Form: This form is to be used for laboratories wishing to clear small equipment items such as waterbaths, power supplies, balancers, plate stirrers, scales, containers, etc. Review to the Laboratory Equipment Self-Clearance Policy for more information. The Radiation Safety Officer will need to sign off on the clearance form after receiving the wipe test results. 

Clearance Request Form: This request form is to be used for the clearance of specific items such as refrigerator/freezers, incubators, centrifuges, fume hoods, and biological safety cabinets. These items cannot be “self-cleared” and must be reviewed by EH&S and potentially other departments before clearance. Review the Equipment Clearance Checklist for more information. The Radiation Safety Officer will need to sign off on the clearance form after receiving the wipe test results.

Note: all radiation and other hazard labels must be removed from equipment that is being discarded as waste

Laboratory Clearance:

Laboratories need to be cleared by the Environmental Health & Safety Department when a laboratory needs to be renovated by the Engineering Department or cleaned by the Housekeeping Department, when the laboratory is relocating, or when the laboratory is planning to close. Review the Laboratory Clearance Checklist for more information. 

Note: Principal Investigators (PI’s) vacating Einstein or moving to a different location are responsible for leaving their vacated laboratories and spaces ready for re-occupancy or renovation.