With the near-miss of Hurricane Florence on Maryland, ESSR's Office of Research Safety is releasing Emergency Preparedness for Laboratories. This is a guidance document that laboratories can use to start a conversation about reviewing and updating lab-specific emergency preparedness procedures. Every laboratory should be prepared to respond to disruptions, both large and small. Being prepared preserves the safety of laboratory personnel, reduces the loss of research materials, and can minimize the time it takes a laboratory to fully recover to normal operation. Each laboratory has unique vulnerabilities to address, so procedures should be customized to the research happening in the space.
Please take a moment to review the guidance. You will find useful checklists of actions labs can start to take now, actions when temporarily closing a lab, and actions for safe re-entry. If you have any questions or need assistance developing your procedures, please contact labsafety@umd.edu. For more resources on emergency preparedness at the University of Maryland visit https://prepare.umd.edu.