Housekeeping is not just cleanliness. It includes keeping work areas neat and orderly; maintaining halls and floors free of slip and trip hazards; and removing of waste materials (e.g., paper, cardboard) and other fire hazards from work areas. 

Here are some housekeeping tips that will help you keep your work area safe:

• Immediately clean up anything on the floor that creates a slip hazard: water, grease, paper, dust or other debris. (Get assistance if needed or required.)
• Keep walkways clear of boxes and other obstructions.
• Close cabinets used for storage when not in use.
• Never block fire exits or fire equipment.
• Make sure stacked materials do not impede vision.
• Don’t store items in or on electrical panels or control boxes.

  
  

• Pick up and store tools in their proper location immediately after use.
• Keep ventilation systems clear of dust and debris and stored materials.
• Make sure receptacles for waste and debris are conveniently located.
• Remove combustible waste often to minimize the fire hazard.
• Set a good example for other employees by maintaining good housekeeping in your work area.

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Program Training:

Safety Housekeeping and Accident Prevention Training Videos

Housekeeping

Construction sites can present many hazards to employees when they are performing construction-related activities.   Keeping a construction site relatively clean of debris can further reduce hazards. The benefits of good housekeeping far exceeds the small additional effort required to establish good housekeeping practices at a construction site

Proper housekeeping is very important to assuring the safety of employees during renovation and maintenance work, and the safety of building occupants while this work is being performed. Departments are responsible for the following:

• Nails protruding from lumber must be removed or bent over during the course of the work.
• Combustible scrap and debris must be removed at regular intervals and not allowed to accumulate. Wastes must be disposed of at frequent intervals.
• Containers must be provided for collection and separation of all refuse. Covers must be provided on containers used for flammable or harmful substances.
• Do not use corridors or aisles for storage of materials.
• A minimum clear egress width of 28 inches, or the equivalent clear width of the exit door for the space, must be maintained at all times.
• Materials must not be stacked within 18 inches of fire sprinkler heads or Halon system discharge nozzles.
• Materials must not be stored so that they project into aisles or passageways in a manner that could cause occupants to trip or that could delay an emergency evacuation.
• All stored materials must be stacked in stable piles. Materials such as pipe that could roll must be chocked or braced to prevent rolling.
• Keep fire doors closed at all times!

Laboratory Housekeeping

We may sound like your parents, but please consider the following to ensure a safe laboratory. When talking about housekeeping common sense usually prevails. One of the many contributing factors associated with accidents and fires is poor housekeeping.

WHAT TO LOOK IN FOR YOUR LAB:

1. Chemicals

   Keep bulk chemicals stored in cabinets or designated storage rooms. Only obtain an amount to keep your test or research going, like a one day supply. This will free up lab bench space and, if you do have a spill, will minimize the amount of chemical released.

   Keep the lids on chemical containers. This sounds obvious but it will effectively reduce the possibility of a spill and reduce any fumes released into your lab.

   Maintain a good chemical inventory. Label your chemical bottles with easily identifiable labels. Keep your inventory up to date on MyChem. An up to date chemical inventory will help you keep track of your chemicals. You may not know this but the inventory may also be used by the fire department and university personnel who are responding to an emergency in your lab.

2. Cleaning Your Lab

   As you tidy up your lab and get organized, don't move your housekeeping problem into the hallway or some other undesirable location. Recycle paper and cardboard properly where it will be promptly removed. Unused or spare equipment should be stored in a designated storage room. Dispose of waste properly. Consider recycling chemicals you no longer use.

3. How cluttered are your lab benches and hoods?

   Keep lab benches and hoods as uncluttered as possible. This may seem impossible when you're conducting complicated tests or have numerous test samples, but continually remind yourself to keep things organized.

   Keep containers and equipment away from the edge of benches. Are you reaching over bottles, cultures, etc. to get to something? Chances are you're about to knock something on the floor. In October 1998, this happened at a major university on the East Coast. The resulting fire, as small as it was, ended up evacuating a number of buildings surrounding the lab.

   What about the shelves above your desk or lab bench? Keep shelving as orderly as possible. A general rule is heavy items on the lower shelves, lighter items on the upper shelves. Be realistic about how much equipment and supplies you can store on shelving. Overloading shelves with infrequently used equipment and extra lab supplies will likely cause you problems with falling items when you least suspect it. You could injure yourself or fellow lab personnel and likely ruin the test or research you were completing.

4. Are pathways in your lab unobstructed to the exit?

   Keep at least a 3 ft. access path out of your lab area at all times. It is common for equipment and materials to be continually moved in, out, and around a laboratory. Have designated storage spaces for portable equipment and carts that you routinely use.

5. In your lab can you see the following items:

   • telephone,
   • first aid kit,
   • fire extinguisher,
   • fire alarm pull station,
   • eye wash station/shower?
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