Centrifuge Safety Guide

Centrifugation may present two serious hazards: mechanical failure and dispersion of aerosols. This fact sheet describes safety and maintenance procedures to minimize centrifuge hazards. Use of centrifuges by new users must be closely supervised by the employee responsible for each centrifuge until he/she is satisfied that unsupervised usage of the instrument is safe. All users must be familiar with the safety procedures for all of the centrifuges that they use, including proper load selection, balancing and maintenance of rotor where necessary.