Lab Safety

Please see this email from George Mason's Environmental Health & Safety team regarding battery safety and 3D printer safety.

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Dear Colleagues,

February 9–13 (2026) is Lab Safety Awareness Week, a time to highlight our shared commitment to maintaining safe research and teaching laboratories across campus. The week focuses on university laboratory safety initiatives and on preventing lab accidents and incidents through awareness, training, and good safety practices.

This year, Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) is emphasizing battery safety. We have created this one-page resource with practical tips for working safely with batteries on campus, as well as an overview of our new Battery Guide. The guide outlines university policies and expectations for working with batteries in both research and teaching spaces and is intended to support safe, consistent battery use across laboratories.

In addition, EHS has recently published a 3D Printing Guide, which applies to all 3D printing activities on campus. These and other safety guides can be found on the EHS website.

We encourage you to review these resources, share them with your research teams and students, and take this opportunity during Lab Safety Awareness Week to reinforce safe laboratory practices.

Thank you for your continued commitment to laboratory safety.

Sincerely,

Environmental Health and Safety

https://ehs.gmu.edu/

Leanne Wright, MPH, CSP