{"id":45260,"date":"2026-04-17T15:42:20","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T19:42:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/research-admin\/?page_id=45260"},"modified":"2026-06-26T16:02:24","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T20:02:24","slug":"biosafety-reporting-incidents","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/research-admin\/integrity-security\/biosafety\/biosafety-reporting-incidents\/","title":{"rendered":"Reporting Biosafety Incidents"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Reporting laboratory&nbsp;incidents involving biohazardous materials&nbsp;in a timely manner&nbsp;is a critical part of the research process, and&nbsp;it\u2019s&nbsp;required by both the National Institutes of Health guidelines and University of Rhode Island policies. Incident reports help to protect the health and safety of researchers, lab staff, university employees, and the&nbsp;general public&nbsp;and are key to assessing the essential training and resource needs of the university.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Reportable Incidents<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Any injury or release involving a biohazardous material&nbsp;must be reported. This can include, but is not limited to:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Needlesticks\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Exposure to eyes, nose, or mouth\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Exposure to open wounds, cuts, or scratches\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Bites\u00a0\/\u00a0scratches from infected animals\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Bites\u00a0\/ scratches\u00a0from animals to whom\u00a0r\/sDNA\u00a0has been introduced\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Release or loss of transgenic plants, animals, or materials\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Immediate Actions<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In case of an injury&nbsp;involving biohazardous materials:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>For splashes\u00a0to\u00a0eyes, flush\u00a0eyes\u00a0with water at\u00a0eyewash\u00a0for 10 minutes.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>For needlesticks, cuts, scratches, animal bites, wash\u00a0the\u00a0area with soap and water for 10 minutes.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Perform first\u00a0aid,\u00a0if applicable.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Notify\u00a0your\u00a0supervisor.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Seek medical evaluation as soon as possible after an exposure\u00a0by calling the URI emergency number: 401-874-2121.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>In case of a release, loss, or&nbsp;spill of biohazardous materials:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>For small spills (&lt;100 mL or within biosafety cabinet), clean up the spill per the lab protocol.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>For large spills (&gt;100 mL\u00a0or outside of biosafety cabinet or laboratory), contact EH&amp;S (401-874-7993)\u00a0immediately\u00a0for\u00a0assistance\u00a0with clean-up.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Contact\u00a0the\u00a0Institutional Biosafety Officer\u00a0(<a href=\"mailto:mdyer@uri.edu\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">mdyer@uri.edu<\/a>\u00a0or 401-874-7019)\u00a0to report theft\u00a0or\u00a0breach in containment of\u00a0biohazardous materials.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Reporting Instructions<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After completing the immediate actions, all incidents involving biohazardous materials must be reported to EH&amp;S via the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/ehs\/incident-reporting-form\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">URI Injury\/Illness\/Exposure Report&nbsp;Form<\/a>&nbsp;<strong>within 24 hours of occurrence<\/strong>. Reports&nbsp;may&nbsp;be&nbsp;submitted&nbsp;by investigators, staff, and students.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Guidance<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Contact&nbsp;the Institutional Biosafety Officer&nbsp;(<a href=\"mailto:mdyer@uri.edu\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">mdyer@uri.edu<\/a>&nbsp;or 401-874-7019) or&nbsp;the&nbsp;Office of Research Integrity&nbsp;(<a href=\"mailto:researchintegrity@etal.uri.edu\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">researchintegrity@etal.uri.edu<\/a>&nbsp;or 401-874-4328)&nbsp;if you need&nbsp;assistance.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Reporting laboratory&nbsp;incidents involving biohazardous materials&nbsp;in a timely manner&nbsp;is a critical part of the research process, and&nbsp;it\u2019s&nbsp;required by both the National Institutes of Health guidelines and University of Rhode Island policies. Incident reports help to protect the health and safety of researchers, lab staff, university employees, and the&nbsp;general public&nbsp;and are key to assessing the essential training [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":701,"featured_media":0,"parent":45233,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"class_list":["post-45260","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/research-admin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/45260","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/research-admin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/research-admin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/research-admin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/701"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/research-admin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45260"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/research-admin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/45260\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45561,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/research-admin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/45260\/revisions\/45561"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/research-admin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/45233"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/research-admin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45260"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}