Research resources

Our research labs are made up of a wide variety of people: faculty, post-doctoral fellows, graduate students, research technicians and various undergraduate students and volunteers.

We provide one staff position that supports the activities of the research laboratories:

• Research Operations Coordinator—provides the following services to the research groups: coordinating CORE equipment maintenance and repair, human resource management, tracking expenses and lab supplies purchasing.

Campus Security can be reached at 250-721-7599. In the event of an evacuation, please exit the building using the stairwells and gather at the northwest corner of the lawn in front of the Medical Sciences Building (MSB).

• General Lab Safety Procedures
• Biohazard Level II Procedures
• Safe Handling of Cryogenic Liquids
• Compressed Gases Standard Operating Procedures (SOP)
• Step by Step Compressed Gases
• UVic Occupational Health & Safety (OHSE) Orientation Handbook
• UVic Occupational Health and Safety Policy
• Safety Data Sheet (SDS) Database
• Chemical Spill Response

Training sessions

Occupational Health & Safety (OHSE) provides many in-class and online training sessions related to both laboratory safety and general workplace safety.  Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS) and Biosafety Awareness training are the minimum training required for all personnel working in MSB laboratories.

Reporting concerns, hazards, and injuries

All injuries and health and safety concerns or hazards must be reported to the supervisor. The supervisor and reporting personnel must fill out the departmental incident and hazard report form and submit to the Research Operations Coordinator.

The supervisor is responsible for investigating the issue in a timely manner and taking appropriate corrective actions. For more information on reporting hazards, please see the OHSE website.

We aim to be environmentally responsible in the way our laboratories are run. We try to recycle as much as possible and use the UVic hazardous waste management system. This ensures that no hazardous materials are introduced into the sewers or regular garbage streams.

Labs must submit a Hazardous Waste Disposal Form on Wednesdays by 4pm for waste pick-up Thursdays. Empty waste containers are provided free of charge except for sharps containers which can be purchased from Science Stores (Petch 168).

Chemical safety

Please learn the Chemical Spill Response procedure. Spill kits are distributed throughout the laboratories and can be obtained free from Science Stores (Petch 168). Replacement spill pads are available in Petch 035. Campus Security (local 7599) is trained to deal with chemical spills so do not hesitate to contact them (7599) if one is beyond your ability to handle. Search Safety Data Sheets (SDS) for information including hazards, firefighting measures and accidental release measures for all chemicals in our laboratories.

The Division provides and maintains several pieces of basic laboratory equipment which are available for use by all of our researchers. Routine preventative maintenance and repair of this equipment is coordinated by the DMSC Research Operations Coordinator

We have an agreement with the Faculty of Science that allows our faculty to use the services of Science Stores (Petch 168).  

These services include:

• access to items from the Science Stores in-house inventory of chemicals, equipment, stationery and Biobar items (you will need to login with your NetLink ID)
• ordering items that are not part of the Science Stores in-house inventory
• shipping

Ordering items

There is a centralized list of "items to be ordered" in the Research shared folder (Netdrive.uvic.ca/meds/Research/Shared/Purchasing/Master Order List.xlsx).

The DMSC Research Operations Coordinator will submit requisitions for these items to Science Stores at minimum every Wednesday. This enables bundling of items from the same vendor to reduce shipping costs.

If you have rush items, please email the details (Vendor, Cat#, Item Description, Quantity) to the DMSC Research Operations Coordinator (dmslab@uvic.ca) and a requisition will be submitted immediately to Science Stores.

Compressed gas cylinders

Compressed gas cylinders can be obtained from the cylinder storage area at the back of the MSB building. Please refer to the MSB Compressed Gas Cylinder procedure document. The department provides all the necessary personal protective equipment. OHSE offers a Compressed Gas training session that covers transport and handling of cylinders which is required for anyone who will be working with cylinders. If the training session is not offered when you need it, please ask your fellow students; anyone who has taken the course can train others.

Buying computers

Computer hardware, software and accessories can be purchased through the Technology Solutions Centre.

Chemical inventory

The central chemical inventory has a list of chemicals in all labs across campus. The database is searchable, making it a great resource for borrowing chemicals if you only need a small amount for one-time use. Please contact the DMSC Research Operations Coordinator for the generic user ID and password to view the database.  

Contact

Please contact the DMSC Research Operations Coordinator (dmslab@uvic.ca) if you have questions about or require assistance with any of these purchasing procedures.

The Faculty of Science offers many technical services on a fee-for-service basis for the Division of Medical Sciences. They can help with services like equipment repair, fabrication, electronics repair and glass blowing. Please follow the link for a full list of research services available.