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 Washington University School of 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