University of Colorado Denver

When a piece of equipment has reached the end of its useful life cycle or the equipment is broken beyond repair and needs to be disposed of, the researcher must follow the steps below to get a green tag issued by EHS for the disposal of the equipment:

• The researcher must clean the piece of equipment to remove any biological, chemical, or radioactive contamination.
• After cleaning the equipment, the researcher will print out and complete both the green tag form and appropriate equipment disposal form.  The green tag then gets submitted to EHS via fax at 4-0388 or via email while the disposal form gets submitted to EHS and Space and Asset Management (SAM) via email.
• Once EHS has verified that the researcher has cleaned the equipment and all EHS records have been checked to verify that the appropriate biological, chemical and/or radioactive hazards have been addressed, the EHS and lab representatives will both sign off on the green tag form. 
• The requesting party will make a copy of the completed form, give EHS the original copy and attach the copy to the equipment. 
• SAM will contact the requester with further instructions for disposing of the equipment.

When a piece of equipment requires that repair work or regular maintenance be performed on it, the researcher must follow the steps below to get a green tag issued by EHS before any work is done on the equipment:

• The researcher is responsible for emptying the contents and cleaning the piece of equipment to remove any biological, chemical, or radioactive contamination.
• After cleaning the equipment, the researcher will print out the green tag form and fill it out. 
• Once the green tag form is filled out, the researcher can either fax (303-724-0388) or email the form to EHS.
• EHS will perform a risk-based assessment taking into account the location and research activities, and survey the equipment if necessary.
• Once EHS has verified that the researcher has cleaned the equipment and all EHS records have been checked to verify that the appropriate biological, chemical, and/or radioactive hazards have been addressed, the EHS and lab representatives will both sign off on the green tag form. 
• The requesting party will make a copy of the completed form, give EHS the original copy, and attach the copy to the equipment.
• The researcher then coordinates directly with Facilities (or contractor) that the equipment is ready for on-site repair or pick-up.

Once a lab space has been vacated either because the lab left campus or simply moved to another location within campus, follow the steps below to get a green tag issued by EHS for the vacated space. Keep in mind that without a green tag, house keeping can not clean the space and a new lab can not move in until the space has been green tagged and cleaned.

• Ensure that the lab has been cleaned (all biological, chemical, and radioactive materials have been moved, all biological, chemical, and radioactive wastes have been properly disposed off, and all surfaces have been decontaminated).  Cleaning the lab space is an expectation of the lab occupants before they move out of the lab space.
• After cleaning the room, the researcher will print out the green tag form and fill it out in advance of EHS coming to the lab to sign off on the form.
• Once the green tag form is filled out, the researcher can either fax (303-724-0388) or email the form to EHS. 
• EHS will walk the rooms that need to be green tagged and verify that items above have been addressed.
• A representative from the lab and EHS will both need to sign off on the green tag to each location needing it.
• The requesting party will make a copy of the completed form, give EHS the original copy, and attach the copy to the vacated spaces in question. 
• EHS will then notify the requester and representatives from Institutional Planning via email that the areas have been green tagged and are ready to be cleaned.

When equipment from a lab is going to be transferred to another location on- or off-campus, the researcher must follow the steps below to get a green tag issued by EHS before the equipment can be moved:

• The researcher is responsible for emptying the contents and cleaning the piece of equipment to remove any biological, chemical, or radioactive contamination.
• After cleaning the equipment, the researchers will print out the green tag form and fill it out in advance of EHS coming to the lab to sign off on the form.
• Once the green tag form is filled out, the researcher can either fax (303-724-0388) or email the form to EHS.
• EHS will perform a risk-based assessment taking in to account the location and research activities, and survey the equipment if necessary.
• Once EHS has verified that the researcher has cleaned the equipment and all EHS records have been checked to verify that the appropriate biological, chemical, and/or radioactive hazards have been addressed, the EHS and lab representatives will both sign off on the green tag form.
• The requesting party will make a copy of the completed form, give EHS the original copy, and attach the copy to the equipment being moved.
• The researcher then coordinates with the movers to get the equipment moved to its final destination.
• Please note that if ownership of the piece of equipment is being transfered to another PI, Space and Asset Management must be notified so that the appropriate paperwork can be filled out.