Environmental Safety Coordinator: Baltzar Stevensson

Laboratory Safety-, Chemicals- and Security Coordinator: Ulrike Schimpf

Radiation Safety Coordinator: Lars Eriksson

Work Environment Safety Coordinator: Ulrika Nilsson

Andrew Kentaro Inge

Baltzar Stevensson

Emilia Eklund (maternity leave)

Jakob Norinder

Mika Sipponen

SU offers several regular courses available to staff, such as

• Laboratory safety for managers (will be announced per e-mail)
• General fire safety course (SU webpage)
• Director flammable goods (SU webpage)
• Director of fire safety (SU webpage)
• Fire safety controller (SU webpage)
• Evacuation leader (SU webpage)
• Radiation safety (will be announced per e-mail)
• First aid and HRL (SU webpage)
• Biosafety (will be announced per e-mail)
• Gas handling (will be announced per e-mail)

Fire safety training
 

As a new employee or visitor to the department, follow the steps below to ensure you are fully prepared for laboratory work. Once these steps are complete, you will be cleared to begin working in the laboratory.

• Read the Laboratory Policy Document provided by the caretaker.
• Complete the safety quiz, sign it, and have your principal investigator approve and sign it.
• Sign the Assurance of Compliance form.
• Fill in the Contact Information and Data Security form included in the Laboratory Policy Document.
• Submit the following in paper form; the quiz and Assurance of Compliance to the lab safety coordinator for archiving and the Contact Information and Data Security form to the caretaker.

Before starting any experiment, ensure you have read the Safety Data Sheets (SDS) for all chemicals. All chemicals and their SDS, available in both English and Swedish, are registered in KLARA, SU’s system to facilitate chemical management.

Note: If your work involves ionising sources, liquid nitrogen, or other hazardous materials, additional training, permissions, or medical clearance may be required.

Follow the links below for more details:

Stockholm University Lab Policy

Chemical Handling Procedure SU (92 Kb)

Contact information

Lab Safety Coordinator: Ulrike Schimpf

Caretaker: Christer Degerstedt

KLARA is SU's chemical registration and risk assessment system, accessible through the KLARA administrator. Every purchased chemical must be registered in KLARA, with a barcode attached to its container. The KLARA inventory officer manages this process within each research group and is appointed by the principal investigator.

In KLARA, you can:

• View available chemicals within your research group or other departments at SU. For your group’s chemicals, go to the ‘start page’ and use the ‘find’ function. For chemicals across SU, use the ‘chemical products’ tab at the top of the KLARA page.
• Access Safety Data Sheets (SDS) for chemicals, solvents, and gases.
• Create, upload, or locate risk assessments for experiments. Each risk assessment must be approved and signed by the principal investigator. A signed hard copy should be retained in the lab for the relevant experiment.
• Identify substances that require special permits, investigations, or exemptions for use and storage. For instance, mercury requires an exemption. Permit application documents for mercury can be found in KLARA under the list of mercury compounds. Official applications are submitted through KEMI.

For guidance on the use of mercury or application steps, contact the lab safety coordinator by submitting the Usage of Mercury form.

Responsibilities of the KLARA Inventory Officer

The inventory officer manages the research group’s chemical inventory, ensuring accurate registration, labelling, and compliance. Key duties include:

• Registering new products purchased by the research group and uploading new or updated MSDSs in KLARA.
• Printing barcodes for new chemicals, solvents, and gases.
• Ensuring container labels are accurate and that no outdated pictograms are present.
• Unregistering discarded products in KLARA.
• Conducting a full inventory of all chemicals within the research group.
• Responding to KLARA-related questions from group members.
• Attending KLARA system training, regularly provided by SU.
• Contacting the KLARA administrator for support with issues or questions.
• Ensuring the department’s annual inventory is completed between January and February each year.

Risk assessment for chemical use 

Before using any chemical, a risk assessment must be conducted by Swedish law AFS 2011:19 using KLARA’s risk assessment module. Key steps include:

• Complete the risk assessment in KLARA and save it in your research group’s folder.
• Ensure the risk assessment is approved by the principal investigator.
• Make the assessment accessible to all relevant staff. Best practice: Keep a copy readily available in the lab, ideally in a designated folder. For highly hazardous materials, such as acetylene gas equipment and hydrofluoric acid, display the risk assessment visibly near the fume hood or work area.

Pregnancy

Pregnant employees must complete an Individual Risk Assessment and submit it to the department’s laboratory safety coordinator. The coordinator, together with the unit’s safety representative and principal investigator, will assess the safety of the work environment and determine appropriate tasks during pregnancy.

Follow the links below for more details:

Law AFS 2011:19 in Swedish

Log in to KLARA system

About KLARA on SU Staff website

Indivdual risk assessement for pregnant or breast feeding employees (293 Kb)

Usage of mercury (196 Kb)

Contact information

Lab Safety Coordinator and KLARA backup administrator: Ulrike Schimpf

KLARA administrator: Mirva Eriksson

Certain chemicals, particularly carcinogenic, sensitising, allergenic, or reprotoxic, require special permits or are prohibited, with possible exceptions. These chemicals are listed in the appendix of Swedish law AFS 2011:19, with a summary in the document Chemicals of Class A and B.

A risk assessment must be prepared by the employee and, or, principal investigator. The permit application must include details such as the specific chemical, working method, purpose, duration, maximum quantity to be used, and the number of people involved. This application is submitted to the Swedish Work Environment Authority by SU’s laboratory safety coordinator.

Note: Using restricted chemicals without a valid permit can result in a fine of 150,000 SEK for Class B substances and 400,000 SEK for Class A substances.

For assistance or to report hazardous chemicals, contact the department´s lab safety coordinator, who will document the chemical use and responsible individual. For consultation or permit applications, contact SU’s chemical compliance officer.

Follow the links below for more details:

Law AFS 2011:19 in Swedish

Application form for class A and B chemicals

  Chemicals of Class A and B (301 Kb) .

Contact Information

Lab Safety coordinator: Ulrike Schimpf

SU Chemical Compliance Officer: Hanna Gustavsson

SU Lab Safety Coordinator: Mikael Corell

Certain chemicals and products in the workplace pose health risks, and Swedish law AFS 2019:3 requires medical examinations for employees handling such substances.

There are three types of examinations: basic medical examination, medical examination with an aptitude report, and medical examination with an aptitude report and exposure test.

An aptitude report is necessary for work with ionising radiation, allergy- or fibrosis-causing chemicals, and heavy metals like lead, cadmium, and mercury. Employees must not handle these substances without this report. Additionally, biological monitoring with blood tests is required for lead, cadmium, and mercury exposure before starting work and every three years. Further details are available in the Chemical Medical Control document.

Note: Using these chemicals or products without the required biological exposure monitoring and aptitude report may lead to fines of up to 150,000 SEK. Additionally, a lack of training and a valid certification incurs a penalty of 10,000 SEK per principal investigator and employee.

Investigation steps:

• The employee responsible for handling the chemical creates a method risk assessment in KLARA and shares it with the principal investigator along with other relevant information.
• The principal investigator completes the Medical Needs Form from SU.
• A meeting is held with the employee, principal investigator, lab safety coordinator, and the unit’s safety representative to review and sign the medical risk assessment. The lab safety coordinator will archive the original form, distribute copies, and add the assessment to KLARA.
• The lab safety coordinator arranges the necessary medical examinations for the employee through occupational healthcare, and the employee reports test results back to the lab safety coordinator.

Training and certification

In addition to medical examinations, both employees and principal investigators must hold valid training certificates for handling certain hazardous substances. These certificates must be submitted to the lab safety coordinator.

This applies to work involving the following substances: Diisocyanates, epoxic plastic components, ethyl-2-cyanoacrylate and methyl-2-cyanoacrylate if used for more than 30 minutes per week, formaldehyde resins and processes that release formaldehyde, isocyanate exposure from thermal degradation, for example, heating of polyurethane foam, ethacrylates and acrylates, labeled with H317 or H334, organic acid anhydrides

Follow the links below for more details:

Law ASF 2019:3 in Swedish

Chemical Medical Control (275 Kb)

Medical needs form (249 Kb)

Detailed list of chemicals

Stockholm Universitys medical risk assessment

Contact Information

Occupational healthcare Avonova: Henrik Strohmayer

Lab Safety Coordinator: Ulrike Schimpf 

Lab Safety Coordinator Backup: Ulrika Nilsson

In accordance to the Swedish law AFS 2014:43 (Swedish), the chemicals that are classified as hazard with the following hazard statements / risk phrases in the SDS:
H350  H340  H360  R45  R46  R49  R60  R61
should be phased put, otherwise 

1. An investigation has to be conducted whether the chemical can be substituted by a less harmful chemical. That accounts for all CMR products independent on the quantity. Find the  CMR investigation form (197 Kb) . Send this form to MMKs Lab Safety Manager for assessment and archiving.
2. If there is no alternative to the CMR product, a risk assessment for the handling of the chemical has to be established in KLARA prior to use.

The following information need to be included in the risk assessment:

• Where will the CMR chemical be used?
• What protective measures are necessary to ensure minimal exposure?
•  In what situations is personal protective equipment required?
• How the operation and function of equipment, processes or ventilation shall be monitored in order to detect early deviations?

When CMRs are introduced to a laboratory, the laboratory door sign has to be updated. All cabinets, fridges/freezers, fume hoods and sample holders (flasks, bottles etc.) need to be marked with a sign “CMR”. Best practice is to assign a specific area in the laboratory for the work with CMR.

Lab Safety Manager, Ulrike Schimpf: ulrike.schimpf@mmk.su.se

Accidental Exposure To CMR Has To Be Documented

MMK has to document accidental exposures to chemicals that have the hazard statements H340 (mutagenic), H350 (carcinogenic) and H360 (reprotoxic, amendment regulation AFS 2022:4, comes into effect: 04-2024) in accordance to the Swedish law AFS 2011:19.

In the case of an accident or incident that results in an accidental exposure, the PI is responsible for reporting it in the SAMIR system and the report has to be sent to MMKs Lab Safety Manager or MMKs Head of Department.

Lab Safety Manager, Ulrike Schimpf: ulrike.schimpf@mmk.su.se
Back-up, Head of Department, Niklas Hedin: niklas.hedin@mmk.su.se
 

Many organic compounds can spontaneously form peroxides through a free radical reaction of the hydrocarbon with molecular oxygen.

Over time, these peroxides can accumulate in containers, creating a risk of explosion if exposed to heat, friction, or mechanical shock. Common solvents like diethyl ether and tetrahydrofuran are prone to forming explosive peroxide crystals, especially during evaporation, distillation, or crystallisation. Exposure to air, light, heat, moisture, or metal contaminants can accelerate peroxide formation.

Inspection procedure

It is crucial to follow proper protocols for identifying, handling, storing, and disposing of peroxide-forming chemicals. Regularly and carefully inspect the bottom, sides, cap, and exterior of bottles and containers for signs of contamination, such as hard ice-like crystals, solid masses, or opaque, cloudy liquid, indicating severe contamination, wispy structures in clear liquid, suggesting possible contamination.

Invisible low-level peroxides may require testing, conducted at SU using test strips. Containers failing inspection must not be opened without training. If peroxides are suspected in long-stored chemicals or samples, avoid moving the container; instead, secure the lab and contact SEKA Miljöteknik for removal.

Shelf life guidelines

Category II and III peroxide-forming chemicals have a shelf life of 3 months, extending to 12 months if stabilised with an inhibitor. Certain chemicals always have a 3-month shelf life, including: isopropyl ether, diethyl ether, divinyl ether, potassium metal, potassium amide, sodium amide, sodium ethoxyacetylide, and vinylidene chloride. Consult the lab safety coordinator for further guidance.

Follow the links below for more details:

List of organic compounds that spontaneously form peroxides.

Contact infomation

Lab safety coordinator: Ulrike Schimpf

SEKA Mijöteknik: Daniel Sellberg, phone: 070-795 00 26 or Patrik Karlsson, phone: 070-795 00 27
 

The head of the department must order prescription drugs for research, such as reference standards. Hazardous drugs require a permit from the Public Health Agency of Sweden, in Swedish Folkhälsomyndigheten, in compliance with Swedish law SFS 1999:58, with few exceptions.

To apply, complete the Application Form for Goods Hazardous to Health which SU’s laboratory safety coordinator will submit to the Public Health Agency of Sweden. All purchases must be reported to the department´s laboratory safety coordinator, who will log the use of these chemicals and appoint a responsible person.

The principal investigator must maintain a detailed usage and order log for these chemicals, including substance name, quantity, date, and a signature, along with documented risk assessments.

Purchase declarations

For certain hazardous chemicals, such as hydrogen peroxide 30%, a purchase declaration may be required. These declarations must be signed by the head of department.

Ethanol purchase and access

Permission to purchase ethanol is granted by the head of department or the head of administration. How to get access:

• Go to kontohantering.su.se, search fo the name of person who requires access in the search field. 
• Select "System rights" (Systemrättigheter) > "Ethanol permission" (Etanoltillstånd).
• Select "Edit" (Redigera).
• Choose "Purchase" (Köpa) and then the appropriate institution, then save by pressing the "Assign button" (tilldela-knappen).

Follow the links below for more details:

Law SFS 1999:58 in Swedish 

application form, goods hazardous to health (265 Kb)

Contact information

Head of the Department: Niklas Hedin

Head of Administration: Lisa Hugosson

SU Lab Safety Coordinator: Mikael Corell 

Lab Safety Coordinator: Ulrike Schimpf
 

To ensure safe and compliant work and storage of concentrated infectious agents in risk class 2 or higher, comply with Swedish law 29 § AFS 2018:4. For organisms at biosafety level 2 or above, follow these steps:

• Complete and send a biorisk assessment to the department's lab safety coordinator for review and archiving.
• Complete the relevant risk class form for classes 2, 3, or 4. Include the contact details of the SU lab safety coordinator as the official contact (“Uppgifter om kontaktperson för anmälan”) for the Swedish Work Environment Authority.
• Send all documents, including a map of the work location, to the Work Environment Authority via the SU lab safety coordinator. For guidance on legislative requirements, documentation, or local adjustments, consult SU’s biosafety coordinator. Attach the biorisk assessment and an emergency protocol to the LAF, and mark the LAF, lab areas, and doors with a biohazard symbol.

Follow the links below for more details:

Law 29 § AFS 2018:4 in Swedish

Biorisk assessment (311 Kb)  

Risk class 2 (838 Kb)

Risk class 3 (838 Kb)  

Risk class 4 (838 Kb)

Contact information

Lab Safety Coordinator: Ulrike Schimpf 

SU Lab Safety Coordinator: Mikael Corell

SU Biosafety Coordinator: Ann-Kristin Iréne Östlund Farrants

Training on handling liquid nitrogen, LN2, is required to access the storage room. This training is provided by SU Butiken or designated departmental staff.

After training, students must complete and sign a form provided by the trainer, which is co-signed by the lab safety coordinator or head of the department and archived by the lab safety coordinator, who then notifies the caretaker to activate card access to the LN2 room at SU Butiken.

Dates for training are published here

Contact information

Trainer at SU Butiken: Björn Röstlund

Trainer backup: Kjell Jansson

Lab Safety Coordinator: Ulrike Schimpf

Caretaker: Christer Degerstedt

Caretaker backup and Environmental Coordinator: Baltzar Stevensson

The waste management procedures are intended to give you guidance about how waste is handled at Stockholm University. They cover all waste generated in university activities.

All information related to waste managment is published on the central SU webpages. 

University’s waste management procedures for office waste

University’s waste management procedures for laboratory waste

Recycling stations and centres