UW Emergency Management

March 20, 2020

New UW Continuity Checklist Developed Labs & Research Facilities

This is a challenging time for many as we adjust to working under the constraints of the COVID-19 situation and plan for impacts outside of our control, some of which may impact research continuity.

In cooperation with the University’s  Environmental Health and Safety Department, and input from the Office of Research, we collectively can provide guidance to the research community to assist with their business continuity planning.  As a supplement to other planning resources and in response to requests for assistance at the lab level, this joint effort has prepared a Guide to Business Continuity and Recovery Planning for Laboratories and Research Facilities. It includes a checklist and is intended to assist faculty, staff, laboratories and research facilities in maintaining research continuity consistent with their own unique needs and circumstances.

We encourage all principal investigators and lab managers to develop a research continuity plan that takes into account health and safety as a priority.

  • Consider how the work of your groups can be slowed for a period of weeks and what steps you would follow if the work was placed on hold with short notice.
  • Encourage staff, students and postdocs in your groups to work from home, whenever feasible.
  • Provide flexibility for members of your groups. Practice social distancing and good hygiene (more than 6 feet between people).
  • Absolutely require that if anyone in the group is sick that they do not come to work.
  • Establish a system by which you, and members of the lab, can check the status of each other.

This guidance plan/checklist was developed in response to the 2020 global novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.  This guide/plan contains many of data elements required under the University’s APS 13.2 requirements which mandate that each department, unit, Center, and College develop, test/exercise and annually review its continuity plan.  Elements (or all) of each plan may be transferred or attached to each lab’s parent department in the U-wide HuskyReady online continuity planning tool.

The planning you do now will support the long-term success of our labs and research groups. Please contact disaster@uw.edu for questions or assistance with building your plan.