All exterior lab doors (to the hall or to the outside of the building) must be posted with an emergency notification card that has the name and emergency contact telephone numbers of the PI and two other responsible individuals who are qualified to answer questions about lab hazards (include both day and night numbers). Posting the GT Police number or the building manager’s number alone is not adequate.  These signs must also be posted to designate individual lab areas in buildings designed with "open labs" (IBB, Whitaker, EBB). 

Emergency notification card

Per the GT Institute Council for Environmental Health and Safety all exterior laboratory doors (those that face hallways or non-laboratory common areas) must be posted with warnings informing laboratorians and non-laboratorians of the hazards within.  All persons entering the laboratory must have had at a minimum, basic instruction in hazard avoidance for the hazards indicated on the door.  

Instructions for use:

1.Remove symbols that do not apply

2.Fill in the NFPA diamond with the appropriate hazard class numbers:

  • Numbers in the blue, red, and yellow diamonds should reflect the  highest rated chemical present in each of the 3 categories (health, fire, reactivity) and should take into consideration hazardous gases as well as solid or liquid chemical hazards.
  • The white diamond should reflect particularly hazardous materials such as water reactive or corrosive material. See the diagram below or contact EHS for help in filling in the appropriate information.

3.The laser hazard warning label applies to Class 3B and 4 lasers only

  • Embedded 3B and 4 lasers that are functionally classified as class 1 or 2 do not require a sign

4.The magnetic hazard warning labels are designated for locations with high-powered magnets generating more than 5 gauss (0.5 Tesla) in any place a person can walk, sit, or stand.

5.Any use of biological material requires the use of a biohazard warning label.

  • This applies to any location where biological materials are manipulated or stored and includes rooms with incubators or refrigerators as well as cold rooms and warm rooms.

6.All locations where radioactive materials are used or stored or locations with equipment with radioactive sources (x-ray machines, etc.) require radiation hazard warning labels

7.Print sign in color

8.Post on exterior room door.

  • Labs or storage areas which can only be accessed via another lab, the door to which is already posted, do not need to be individually posted, but the hazards they contain must also be represented on the sign posted on the exterior access door. 

door sign with images for different hazards, including biohazard, radiation, magnetic fields, etc.

THIS SIGN ONLY PERTAINS TO TRAINING REQUIREMENTS AND DOES NOT REPLACE REGULATION-SPECIFIED SIGNAGE FOR BIOLOGICAL, RADIOLOGICAL, OR LASER HAZARDS

Exterior door sign with hazards

Laser warning signs must posted on all class 3B and 4 laser work areas.  Signs must be lighted electrical signs posted exterior to the laser area and interlocked to the laser power supply.  See the GT Laser Safety Program.

Radiation warning signs, in addition to the training requirement signs, must be posted per the GT Radiological Safety Program.

All open lab areas such as in the Whitaker Building (BME) or the Petit Institute for Biology and Biosciences (IBB) Building must be prominently posted with room number and PI name/emergency contact information in the lab to distinguish it from the adjacent labs.