Inspection Requirements
The regulatory agency with jurisdiction for San Francisco, the Certified Unified Program Agency (CUPA), requires annual safety inspections of laboratories.
At SFSU, we divided lab inspections into 10 discrete categories of safety inspection questions.
EH&S student aides have been trained to conduct inspections of these individual categories.
Their training is defined and standardized by short student-produced videos that show what are safe and unsafe conditions to look for during an inspection.
Students document their inspection findings using the Risk & Safety Services' on-line safety inspection tool that EH&S customized for use at SFSU.
Student lab safety inspections are overseen and collated by the EH&S staff chemical hygiene officer, who also tracks inspection findings to closure.
CY 2023 Update
In CY 2023, 97% (730 out of 740 categories) of required inspection questions covering 74 COSE laboratories were completed.
Improvement in the follow up and documentation of corrective actions using the system is a goal for CY 2024.