Chemical Hygiene Officer

For labs with storage and use of hazardous chemicals, the title of Chemical Hygiene Officer is defined by the OSHA Laboratory Standard (29 CFR 1910.1450) as:

A Chemical Hygiene Officer (CHO) is an individual designated by an employer to provide technical guidance on chemical safety within a laboratory setting. This person is crucial for implementing and maintaining the laboratory’s Chemical Hygiene Plan (CHP), ensuring the safety of laboratory personnel from hazardous chemicals. The key responsibilities of the lab’s CHO are:

• Developing and implementing the lab’s Chemical Hygiene Plan
• Conducting laboratory safety training, ensuring personnel understand the hazards of chemicals they work with and how to handle them safely.
• Conducting Hazard assessment and implementing control of hazards
• Incident reporting and follow-up
• Ensuring the lab complies with federal, state, local and university requirements
• Conducting periodic inspections of the laboratory, safety equipment and chemical storage to ensure all is in good order
• Serving as a point of contact for the lab

At the University of Kentucky, any research laboratory with storage or utilization of hazardous chemicals must specify the lab's CHO in their laboratory-specific Chemical Hygiene Plan. 

The designated CHO of the specific lab will be listed in the lab’s specific Chemical Hygiene Plan, in particular, Sections 1 & 2 of the UK Lab Specific Chemical Hygiene Plan fillable template specifies this individual.

According to the OSHA regulations (29 CFR 1910.1450), the designated CHO must:
 

1. Be an employee of the institution. Whether they receive a paycheck from the university must be considered when designating the CHO. Depending on the situation with your graduate students, their eligibility for this designation may be affected by this requirement.
2. The designated CHO must possess the necessary qualifications, typically through training or experience, to effectively guide the development and implementation of the Chemical Hygiene Plan. This includes a thorough understanding of chemical hazards, safety procedures, and relevant regulations.

By default, if not specified in the laboratory's specific Chemical Hygiene Plan, the designated CHO is the Principal Investigator of the lab. Designation of the lab's CHO requires discernment on the part of the Principal Investigator. If the PI feels there is a grad student that they trust to fulfill this role, and this grad student is aware of regulations surrounding this designation, then it is documented in the CHP. This identification is a critical part of the Chemical Hygiene Plan on those first few pages. It provides a line of accountability and designates the authority on which the employees can rely. The ramifications for someone in the lab who otherwise is not aware of the responsibility conferred to them by being designated as the lab CHO can be quite heavy in the event of lab injury or incident.

If you feel that our office can offer support in developing a CHO requirements checklist or you would like us to meet with graduate students, researchers, and/or Principal Investigators who will receive the CHO designation to understand the role and review the requirements of the regulations, we can help you accomplish this. Please contact us at labsafety@uky.edu.