Research Lab Support
PEOPLE
Employee Recruitment
Please use the DBS Hiring Form to submit your new hire (or extension) requests. After getting approval to recruit, if you would like this position advertised on the department website or social media accounts, please email bioinfo@boisestate.edu with a job details, ads, job post links, etc.
Volunteers
All volunteers are required to complete safety training and must be aware of lab hazards. Any individuals needing proxy card access to a lab who is not an employee or student must be set up as an Affiliate with the department. Please note that this process usually takes about two weeks to process after the department has received the necessary documents from the affiliate.
Minors
Children are not permitted in research labs. For high school volunteers, please have a parent/guardian complete the Minor Volunteer Waiver. Please have any lab volunteers, non-BSU employees, or current students fill out a Volunteer Waiver as well. These should be kept with your lab’s safety documentation for 5 years.
CAMPUS FACILITIES
For urgent facility concerns such as an electrical outage, alarming fume hoods or leaking water, call the Facilities Operations and Maintenance (FO&M) team at 426-1409.
For less urgent issues (equipment moves, carpentry requests, or repairs), you can email svcreqs@boisestate.edu or complete a work order (note: must be on BSU computer or VPN).
Surplus furniture is available for on-campus use. To view available furniture, visit the Gage warehouse during their public hours.
Room reservations:
For rooms controlled by the Biology department, please send an email to bioinfo@boisestate.edu, and our staff will be able to assist. Courses are given priority booking, but once course schedules are finalized, other events can be scheduled in our conference rooms or computer lab. Requests to use teaching lab spaces will be forwarded to the appropriate LMS staff member.
For classroom reservations intended for non-course related events (ie lab meetings, thesis defenses and rehearsals, trainings), please complete a Room Request Form so our department coordinate a reservation through the Registrar's Office.
LAB SAFETY
Each PI is responsible for the safety of the workers in their lab. Safety training documents (including EHSS and CITI certificates), protocols and SDS sheets should be maintained in binders that can be easily accessed. Feel free to adapt the Lab Worker Safety Checklist to reflect your own lab’s needs.
BSU CLS online lab safety training (required for all lab workers - including PI’s) at https://cems.unh.edu/boisestate Log in to the system by clicking on login and then clicking on the TOP Boise State University User Login (don't immediately enter your information under "other users.") Then enter your BSU credentials. From there, on your homepage / dashboard, click on the training link near the bottom. Then click on "view available courses." Please complete the following three courses: A Day in the Lab, Hazardous Waste Training, and Lab Safety. UNH CEMS only works through Boise State's IP address. So, you will either need to complete the training while on campus or use Boise State's Virtual Private Network (VPN). This allows you to use their IP address while off campus. To use the VPN, please follow the directions after clicking on the link. When you are finished, please print the certificate of completion for a record of your training and put in your lab's safety training records binder. If you teach, prep or coordinate in our teaching labs please email these documents to Academic Laboratories Manager (shaygillette@boisestate.edu).
CITI Program training is for anyone working with potentially biohazardous materials. If you are a TA teaching an A&P class, Microbiology or Human/Comparative Phys. (or any other lab using potentially infectious materials) you will need to register for an account and complete the Biosafety Essentials module (this is also valid for one year). If you work with human tissues or potentially infectious material in your research you may need to do additional modules and print a completion certificate for your lab's safety training binder.
Accidents - For life threatening injuries, call 911. Employee(s) should be transported by ambulance to the nearest emergency facility for immediate medical attention. Notify Department of Public Safety at 208.426.6911 to make them aware of the incident. For non-life threatening injury requiring medical attention - employee should be transported by university vehicle to University Health Services or a St. Luke’s Occupational Health Clinic. If a university vehicle is not readily available, transport by personal vehicle OK - contact Public Safety for assistance - 208.426.6911. All accidents/incidents should be reported on the Supervisor Accident Report within 24 hours.
Vaccinations - Some vaccinations are available through BSU Health Services; however, these services are not free of charge. If PIs wish to pay for these expenses, please contact the account manager for your respective funding strings to ensure allowability prior to contacting BSU Health Services.
Access - Physical keys and proxy access is managed by DBS admin staff. Individuals needing access to DBS-controlled spaces must complete the Key/Proxy Authorization Form. PIs will receive proxy audit emails from DBS admin staff every other month to help maintain lab access. For questions regarding keys and proxy access, please email biol-forms@boisestate.edu.
WASTE DISPOSAL
Biohazardous - Waste that is potentially infectious (including unpreserved animal cells, blood, or tissue, and potentially infectious fungal and bacterial specimens. Waste is to be collected in red biohazardous waste bags, double bagged, tied and placed in bin with lid. Empty bins and collection point is in Science 401. Please ensure bins are no more than ¾ full and any pokey items (pipet tips, serological pipettes, slides, glass, etc) are in a secondary container (such as a cardboard box or laundry jug) before being placed in the red bag.
Glass - non biohazardous glass should be disposed of in hard container such as cardboard box. Many labs use these convenient disposable containers. Once full, boxes should be taped closed, clearly labeled “BROKEN GLASS” and disposed of directly in the dumpster behind the building. See above for glass that has biohazardous residue.
Sharps - sharps (needles, scalpels, razor blades, etc) must be disposed of in regulated sharps containers. For biohazardous sharps, there are reusable containers available in the biohazardous waste room (Science 401). For non-biohazardous sharps, labs purchase disposable sharps containers such as these. Once sealed, they can be disposed of in regular trash containers.
Chemical - chemical waste should be appropriately labeled and stored