Environmental Health and Safety

Stanford is committed to excellence in providing for health, safety, and stewardship of the environment. This commitment is demonstrated through the university's institutional conduct and its contributions to teaching and research on environmental protection and management, as well as health and safety.

As in all research universities, Stanford faculty, staff, and students work with potentially hazardous materials, including chemical, radiological, biological, and physical agents. To assure appropriate oversight of these hazards, the President of the university established the University Committee on Health and Safety in 1991. The committee's charge includes broad responsibilities for oversight, priorities, strategies, and policies regarding all environmental health and safety matters at the university. The committee meets regularly and conducts an annual public meeting for community questions and input.

The Department of Environmental Health and Safety (EH&S) is charged with the implementation of standards and procedures for workplace and laboratory design, storage and use of hazardous materials, disposal of hazardous waste, evaluation and control of emissions, pollution prevention and waste minimization, use of hazardous materials substitutes, and response to hazardous materials spills. Peers at other institutions recognize the university's environmental health and safety programs as model programs. One of these programs, the Mercury Thermometer Exchange Program received the "Environmental Achievement Award" from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region IX in 2002.

Over 2,000 thermometers of all types have been replaced with non-mercury alternatives since the program began in 2000, and 123 pounds of thermometer mercury have been removed from campus for recycling. In addition, Environmental Health and Safety (EH&S) has implemented a very effective program to redirect unused, unopened reagent chemicals out of Stanford's hazardous waste disposal streams and back into the hands of researchers across the university. Since EH&S implemented this innovative pollution prevention program, it has saved over $50,000 in chemical purchase and waste disposal costs, saving not just money but the environment as well.

EH&S maintains a large (~400 chemicals) inventory of unused, unopened chemical reagents. University researchers can search the online inventory and request any chemicals free of charge. EH&S delivers the chemicals in a timely manner and encourages researchers to request more surplus materials prior to their next chemical purchase. The program has gained in popularity and now proudly boasts many loyal participants from diverse research areas such as Pediatrics - Cancer Biology, Pathology, Materials Science & Engineering, and Chemical Engineering, to name merely a few. Participating researchers appreciate the direct benefits to their laboratory's bottom line and to the environment as well.

To find out more about Environmental Health and Safety programs go to http://www.stanford.edu/dept/EHS/prod/