9-UTD lab cleaning custodial work SOP 2025.docx

Custodial Work in Laboratories and Auxiliary Workspaces with Identified Safety Hazards Purpose: Protection of every worker’s well-being is the top priority in each laboratory and auxiliary workspace. Custodial staff working in laboratories and auxiliary workspaces may be exposed to chemical, physical, biological, radiation, laser, and magnetic field hazards. Within the research and teaching environment, it is also critical to maintain the integrity of experiments, data collection processes, and individual projects within these spaces. Ensuring that all custodial staff are provided with appropriate training, protective equipment, communication methods, and awareness information regarding safe work practices will minimize the risk of accidents.

Scope: These procedures apply to custodial work in all UT Dallas research and academic laboratories, as well as auxiliary workspaces with identified safety hazards. These auxiliary workspaces support experimental learning and research activities and can include animal care areas, technical spaces, workshops, studios, and machine shops.

Work Hours: Custodial cleaning must be performed in laboratories between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 11:00 p.m. Custodial work will most often be conducted while the laboratory or auxiliary workspace is occupied by research staff, faculty, and/or students.

Personal Safety and Security: Custodial staff members must not work alone while performing job tasks in laboratories or auxiliary workspaces with identified safety hazards. If the laboratory or auxiliary workspace is not occupied by research staff, faculty, or students during custodial work, a minimum of two custodial workers must remain in close proximity to each other within the building at all times. Two-way radio communication between custodial workers and supervisors is encouraged.

Building/Workspace Security: Access to buildings, laboratories, and auxiliary workspaces is restricted to authorized personnel. Custodial staff members are responsible for ensuring that any door which is opened by custodial staff for completion of job tasks is returned to the secured state in which it was found (previously locked doors must be fully re-locked upon completion of custodial activities).

Communication of Hazards: Custodial staff must be able to recognize and understand hazard communication systems utilized at UT Dallas and are responsible for taking appropriate measures to protect themselves while conducting custodial job activities. These communication systems include visual signs and labeling, online and instructor-led training, and established emergency procedures. Custodial supervisors are responsible for ensuring that each member of the custodial staff participates in and understands the communication systems and uses appropriate protective measures daily.

Visual Signs and Labeling: Safety signs, labels, and tags are used to identify and communicate hazards associated with materials or conditions that are located in laboratories and auxiliary workspaces at UT Dallas. These visual indicators are designed to provide a clear understanding of the risks in each area. All custodial staff members must be able to comprehend text and symbols on posted safety signs, labels, and tags, and follow any indicated protective instructions.

Training: All custodial staff must complete UT Dallas-specific online safety training within the first two weeks of working at UT Dallas. The online training provides the basis for recognizing hazards, employing protective measures, exercising personal and site security, responding to emergencies on campus, and special handling procedures for laboratory waste. In addition to completing initial online training, all custodial staff must attend the annual instructor-led “refresher” Custodial Safety training course, which includes site-specific training content developed and delivered by the Office of Institutional Risk and Safety Programs (OIRSP).

Emergency Procedures: All injuries, suspected health exposures, and incidents that occur while performing custodial job duties must be reported to the custodial supervisor and the UT Dallas Office of Institutional Risk and Safety Programs. An incident report must be completed and submitted for each occurrence (The UT Dallas “Incident Report Form” can be obtained from the Office of Institutional Risk and Safety Programs).

Injuries, Exposures, and Incidents: All injuries, suspected health exposures, and incidents that occur while performing custodial job duties must be reported to the custodial supervisor and the UT Dallas Risk Management unit within OIRSP. An incident report must be completed and submitted for each occurrence. More information can be found Personal Protective Equipment (PPE): Each laboratory and auxiliary workspace with identified safety hazards maintains control measures to protect occupants from safety and airborne/health hazards. These controls include chemical fume hoods, biosafety cabinets, shielding devices (magnetic fields, lasers, and radiation), machine guarding, and establishment of restricted areas. While these control measures minimize risk within the spaces, personal protective equipment (PPE) and appropriate attire provide a necessary line of defense to preserve the health and safety of custodial staff working in these areas. Each custodial staff member is responsible for using required PPE at all times while working in these areas. Custodial supervisory staff must ensure that: an adequate supply of PPE is available, each custodial staff member is properly fitted for PPE, staff are properly trained on the uses and limitations of PPE, PPE is maintained in accordance with manufacturer’s recommendations, and PPE is disposed of as dictated by UT Dallas waste disposal procedures.

The following minimum PPE and attire are required to be used by each custodial staff member while working in laboratories and auxiliary workspaces with identified safety hazards:

· Eye protection: Safety glasses or prescription eyeglasses (ANSI Z87 approved)

· Hand protection: Disposable gloves (nitrile or equivalent protective material)

· Foot protection: Closed-toe shoes

· Body/skin protection: Long pants and long-sleeved shirt

· Head protection: Long hair must be pulled back and secured

The custodial supervisor must routinely observe custodial staff and ensure proper use of PPE on an ongoing basis. Additionally, the custodial supervisor must regularly verify that staff are following appropriate PPE use and change-out procedures, to eliminate potential transfer of contamination between surfaces (such as glove transfer between “dirty” trash can surfaces and “clean” door handles) or from interior laboratory spaces to exterior clean zones.

Specialized Work Practices: Communicating general custodial work practices, policies, and quality standards for the UT Dallas campus is the responsibility of the UT Dallas Facilities Management department. The following specialized work practices are applicable to spaces within the scope of this document:

Floor Care:

· Floors can be dry or wet mopped. Disposal of mop water may be regulated, therefore UT Dallas waste disposal procedures must be followed.

· Floors must be accessible to custodial staff for cleaning. Occupants of the space are responsible for ensuring floors are accessible. If the floors are not clear, the custodial supervisor will communicate with the space’s faculty/researcher/responsible party regarding access needs for performing proper floor care.

· Laboratories shall not be vacuumed.

Trash Handling and Removal:

· General trash is placed in a trash container with a clear plastic liner. Custodians should remove the entire bag when emptying these trash containers. Do not dump the trash into a larger container.

· Cleaned laboratory glass (broken and not broken) is triple rinsed by the space occupants and placed into cardboard boxes labeled "glass only" for disposal. When the “glass only” boxes are full, they are closed and sealed by the space occupants. Custodians should place the entire sealed “glass only” box into the regular trash as one unit for disposal. Do not empty the box.

· Biological waste is placed into specially labeled red/orange bags by faculty/staff/occupants of the space. Custodians should NEVER handle red/orange bags. Any biological waste that has been autoclaved (decontaminated) on-site, and is safe for regular disposal, will be placed by the space occupants into a black garbage bag. Custodial staff can dispose of these black bags in the regular trash.

· Recycling waste that is segregated in the space must be collected on a regular basis, removed from the space, and placed in appropriate large-scale collection areas as designated by UT Dallas Facilities Management.

Other Cleaning Tasks:

· Custodians should not clean sinks, benches, or chemical storage areas in spaces within the scope of this document.

· Unique tasks including custodial work following laboratory close-outs, custodial work related to non- routine periodic processes (such as annual floor buffing), and special cleaning requests must be pre- approved through the UT Dallas Facilities Management department and coordinated with the Office of Institutional Risk and Safety Programs.

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