Maintaining laboratory coats is a necessary cost of research — currently, labs use their own funds to purchase lab coats and foot the bill for Environmental Health and Safety to launder the gear — but campus labs will catch a break in costs with a new program that provides new coats and cleaning services.

Environmental Health and Safety is unveiling a new program starting this month that will provide new lab coats to existing labs and also cover the cost of cleaning and maintenance.

In partnership with UniFirst Corporation, the department will supply three types of lab coats — general purpose, fluid-resistant and flame-resistant — and will launder, repair and replace the coats as needed.

The department will be gathering lab coat preorders from labs. The type of coat ordered will depend on hazard assessment by department staff. Lab coats are unisex sizing, ranging from small to 4XL; those who wish to try on sample lab coats to determine the correct size can visit Room 072, Onyx Bridge during business hours.

Funded by the Office of the Vice President for Research and Innovation and Safety and Risk Services, and with backing from the Laboratory Safety Advisory Committee, the program will take preorders through May 17. Interested parties can submit an order for coats using an online form.

Learn more by visiting the Environmental Health and Safety website.