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Principal Investigators

overview

Faculty have the ultimate responsiblity for the health and safety of staff, students and visitors working in their laboratories. As a faculty it is important that you review the information provided in this section.

PI Roles and Responsibilities

A Principal Investigator (PI) is an academic lead researcher in the institution who is responsible for the preparation, conduct, and administration of research projects in compliance with applicable regulations and institutional safety requirements. The PI should also act as a role model and establish a strong safety culture in the laboratory. As such, a successful PI should assume the following responsibilities:

01

Obtain all necessary institutional approvals for experiments when required (IBEC, IACUC, IRSC, DCB). For more information visit Research Compliance webpage.

02

Appoint a Lab Safety Representative (LSR) (link to LSR page). Ensure all research team members are trained and competent to perform the assigned research activities in a safe and compliant manner.

03

Establish a Lab Safety Plan (link) and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and train lab workers on each SOP.

04

Ensure all the activities comply with relevant KAUST Safety Policies, Programs, Procedures and Guidelines.

Additional references:

Health, Safety and Environment Policy Faculty Handbook Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research Research Compliance

New Faculty

Upon arriving at KAUST and before opening the lab for research, the following steps must take place:

Space Allocation

Once your lab space has been allocated, ASEPC will inform the Research Safety Team and for high risk lab a Pre-Operational Safety, Health & Environmental Review Form (POSHER) may need to be completed with Research Safety in order to define, in the early stage of the lab design, any safety requirements. More information regarding Lab Design and Modification in general can be found here Lab Life Cycle Management/ Lab Design and Modificiations.

Engineering Controls

If lab modifications are required, these will be submitted to PDE&C (Planning, Design, Engineering & Construction) that will prepare a Scope of Work. The Scope of Work will be reviewed and approved by various department in KAUST.
Determine who is the Builidng Point of Contact (link to About us/ BPOC) for the lab area(s).

Administrative Controls

Once the lab modifications have been
completed and before the lab can be opened and in operation, arrange a meeting with the Building Point of Contact (link) to complete the Lab Safety ReadinessFor more information on lab readiness and the associated process, please visit our webpage (Lab Life Cycle Managment/ Lab Readiness).


For the lab readiness to take place the following must be completed:


  • Appoint a Lab Safety Representative (LSR).
  • Ensure that the Lab Safety Plan (link to Hazard Controls/ Administrative Controls. Lab Safety Plan and Standard Operating Procedures ) is written and that all personnel working in the lab area(s) have reviewed, understood and signed off on the plan.
  • Ensure a Lab Hazards Door Sign is created for your lab(s).
  • Ensure all safety supplies, including PPE and equipment required for the management of hazardous waste, are available

Emergency Preparedness

Emergencies can create a variety of hazards for workers in the impacted area. Preparing before an emergency incident plays a vital role in ensuring that employers and workers have the necessary equipment, know where to go, and know how to keep themselves safe when an emergency occurs.


The LSR can assist the PI to ensure that the below preparedness measures are in place:


  • Create SOPs to perform normal safe procedures Identify risks in your area
  • Establish emergency procedures specific to your lab, these should include the following:
    • safe shutdown of experiments and equipment safe handling of hazardous spills
    • triggering of alarm systems
    • when and how to escalate an incident
  • Organize and execute regularly small emergency drills (e.g. simulate a small spill in your area, walkthrough the evacuation procedure with the team members, etc.)
  • Participate in After Action Reviews when an incident occurred – determine root cause of incidents and how to minimize impact or prevent

If you have any question, please contact the Research Safety Team at HSE@kaust.edu.sa.

Lab Managment System - Salute

KAUST Health, Safety, and Environment (HSE) has acquired Salute, a new web-based safety management system. Salute contains many modules such as safety training, risk assessments, inspections, incident reporting, and many others that will allow for the management of all HSE needs. By implementing this system, our goal is to further improve the safety culture here at KAUST by having more active participation in safety programs.

Accessing Salute

Safety Trainings

All trainings can be taken via our online training portal (Salute). Some training sessions are also offered live and more information can be found on the Research Safety Training webpage.

Chemical Inventory

The laboratories are required to keep track of the purchase, use and disposal of chemicals via the Salute Chemical Inventory. For more information, please visit the Chemical Inventory Webpage.

Lab Assessments

  • Tier 1 Assessments –Carried out by the LSR or Safety Lead at least once a quarter. This assessment consists of a comprehensive and simple checklist to ensure safe work environment.
  • Tier 2 Assessments –Carried out by a member of the Research Safety Team and aimed to support research, ensure work is done in a safe environment and monitor safety compliance. The frequency for each inspection is driven by risk and the hazards in each laboratory.
  • Tier 3 Assessments – Carried out by the Subject Matter Expert to control specific hazards and mitigate risks. Example of such assessment will include chemical safety, biological safety, laser safety, radiation safety, fire loss prevention, etc.

For more information, please visit ourAssessments webpage.

Useful Information

Safety Committees

At KAUST, there are four institutional Safety Committees, which are administered by the Research Compliance team. Please visit the Research Compliance webpageto check whether your research requires approval from one of these institutional committees.

Lab Modifications / Engineering Controls

Lab modifications are important to achieve safe operation in a lab environment. If you need to have lab modifications, please review the process on the ASEPC webpage.

Equipment Purchase

If you need to purchase equipment, please review the process on the ASEPC webpage.
For installation of equipment or furniture, please contact PDE&C (ink to small project in PDEC).

Emergency Response

First Things to Do in Any Emergency:


  • Follow the emergency checklist/Action Guide
  • Decide whether it is safer to evacuate or shelter-in-place. Trigger the alarm system/escalate the emergency
  • Once safely evacuated or sheltered-in-place, call 911 for help from a landline and call 012 808 0911 from a mobile phone and clearly explain what you know about the situation.
  • Provide first aid for any injured people.
  • Move any people who are injured away from further danger

Faculty Departure

You must provide reasonable notice to the Research Safety Team (HSE@kaust.edu.sa) to inform that the laboratory will be vacated. Please inform us as early as possible (we recommend that you inform us three months prior the departure date) to ensure that you will receive appropriate support from Research Safety Team regarding chemical inventory cleanout, hazardous waste consultations and disposal, lab and equipment decontamination, management of special high hazards chemical/area, etc. For more information visit the Lab Cleanout/Lab Decommissioning webpage (link).

Faculty Departure