Health and Safety
Hazardous Waste Management
Hazardous waste is regulated by federal and state law. Hazardous waste from laboratories must be managed accordingly. CSUMB's maintains a Hazardous Waste Management Program that outlines handling and storage of waste. All persons handling hazardous waste must complete appropriate training that can be found through the SumTotal training website.
Hazardous materials - A hazardous material can be any solid, liquid or gas which exhibits at least 1 of 4 characteristics
- Ignitability: Can create a fire under certain conditions, are spontaneously combustible, or a flash point below 60ºC (140ºF)
- Corrosivity: Acids or bases (pH less than or equal to 2, or greater than or equal to 12.5) that are capable of corroding metal containers.
- Reactivity: Unstable under "normal" conditions. They can cause explosions, toxic fumes, gases, or vapors when heated, compressed, or mixed with water.
- Toxicity: Harmful or fatal when ingested of absorbed or is a waste that appears on a hazardous material list by the EPA or California EPA.
Hazardous waste/universal waste - Universal waste is a category of waste primarily from consumer products that are hazardous to health and the environment and exhibit characteristics of hazardous waste. These items cannot be throw in the trash or disposed in landfills. Some examples of universal wastes are:
- Batteries (contain nickel-cadmium, mercury)
- Fluorescent lamps (contain mercury)
- Electronics (can contain lead, mercury, PCB's in their circuit boards)
- Pesticides
Hazardous waste guidelines
Labeling - Hazardous waste labels must be placed on the container upon the start of accumulation, be complete, legible, and in good condition.
- The words "Hazardous Waste" must be on the label
- Contact information (name and phone number/ extension)
- Chemical constituents (NO trade names, NO abbreviations, NO chemical formulas)
- Hazards listed (corrosive, toxic, oxidizer, flammable, etc. )
- Date when container is started
- Date when container is full or you are no longer planning on accumulating any more waste in that container.
Storage
- Must be stored at a designated Satellite Accumulation area (SAA) at or near the point of generation until "full" or ready for disposal.
- Must not exceed 55 gallons of hazardous waste or 1 quart of acutely hazardous waste. They must be removed from the Satellite Accumulation Area within 3 calendar days of these volume limits or when considered "full" (meaning no additional waste collection).
- Must be stored in chemically compatible containers in good condition and kept closed at all times, except when adding waste.
- Waste containers must be stored in chemically compatible secondary containment that will adequately contain 110% of the contents of the largest container or 10% of the total volume of all the containers, whichever is greater.
- Report any damaged containers to AEHS (x4630) or EMHS (x3730).
Hazardous Waste Pick-up & Schedule
If you have hazardous waste that needs to be removed, please contact either the AEHS (x4630) or the EMHS (x3730) office.
- Pickup schedule for 2023:
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January: Monday, January 23rd 2023
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April: Monday, April 24th, 2023
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July: Monday, July 24th 2023
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October: Monday, October 23th 2023
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Hazardous waste inventories are due by the end of the previous month to EMHS or AEHS.
How do incidents get investigated? (spills, accidents etc.)
Hazard/Complaints/Accident Investigations Standard Operating Procedure