DEAS/Physics Safety Committee

Meeting Minutes

Wednesday, January 8, 2003
Noon-1:00PM

1. Video - "Electrical Safety in the Lab" (11 minutes)

2. 2000/2001 Lab Inspection Schedules - Team Chairs

• Team # 3 (Cruft/Pierce) - Parisa Fallahi (team chair) was not present. Other team members think the inspection will be on January 13th.
• Team # 4 (Lyman) - Gary Zabow will inspect on January 17th at 10:00am.
• Team # 9 (ART) - Steve Sutterlun was not present--the inspection date may need to be rescheduled.

Summary of lab inspection schedules for 2003:

1. Team # 1 -- John Budney (McKay 1-3) - January 8 @ 1:00pm
2. Team # 2 -- Kyle Alvine (McKay 4-5) - February 4 @ 1:00pm
3. Team # 3 -- Parisa Fallahi (Cruft/Pierce) - January 13 ??
4. Team # 4 -- Gary Zabow (Lyman) - January 17 @ 10:00am
5. Team # 5 -- Chris Slowe (Jefferson) - January 27 @ 10:00am
6. Team # 6 -- John Dudek (ESL/HEPL) - January 22 @ 1:00pm
7. Team # 7 -- Owen Duckworth (Link) - January 29 @ 2:00pm
8. Team # 8 -- Bivash Dasgupta (Maxwell/Dworkin) - December 12 @ 1:00pm
9. Team # 9 -- Steve Shepard (ART Shop) - January 14 @ 10:30am ??

3. Maxwell/Dworkin Lab Inspection Report:

Bivash Dasgupta submitted the following inspection report for Maxwell/Dworken areas. Team #8 conducted the inspection on December 12, 2002.

• Building - Maxwell Dworkin.
• General: Everything looks OK in the building. Most of the rooms are offices and so everything seems very clean.
• MD 338:
  • Unused bottles of Chloroform and other solvents under the sink. They are not used any more and should be disposed off. Some were not aware that there are chemicals in the room.
  • No separate storage place for organic solvents (saw a bottle of isopropyl alcohol) on the work bench in a tray with other inorganic salts and chemicals.
  • I don't know how much waste they generate, or whether the waste requires EH&S pickup, but a small SAA area might do no harm.
  • 2 Refrigerators in the room had no "FOOD ONLY" stickers.
  • A small Class IIIA laser in the room - was told that it was as powerful as laser pointers, so it is not a dangerous one. However, if they 'upgrade' to higher power lasers they should know whom to contact etc.
  • There were no access numbers.
• MD 311 - VLSI lab:
  • Hood inspected and has been certified by EH&S within the last year.
  • There are warning signs for radiation hazard on the hood and in the lab, but a sign outside the door is absent.
  • Also there were no Emergency access numbers posted on the door.
• MD B133 - Class room:
  • Everything is OK.

4. Laser Registration Forms

Lenny said he was still waiting for more laser registration forms. At this point he assumes that anyone who did not submit one does not have a laser that needs to be registered. Yuan Lu still needs to submit a form. Andrea del Veccio will submit a form for Aziz.

5. Training Database updates:

Lenny said two people still need to create user accounts to access our training database: Steve Cronin and Roberto Martinez.

6. SOP Updates

Lenny encouraged everyone to send in their updated SOPs for their lab areas.

7. EH&S report

• Howard introduced a new Industrial Hygienist, Chuck Litkinwallner
• Sid Paula gave a report on a laser fire that happened recently at Harvard. He said he will be visiting all labs with Class 3b or 4 lasers to make inspections. The recent laser fire happened only 2 months after EH&S had inspected the laser and expressed concern about the set-up. Despite training, the lab did not make improvements and an accident that could have been prevented happened.

8. Hazardous Waste Training - Rob Stanhope

Rob read a list of names that need retraining.

9. Old Business

• Andrea - Does her group need to post warning signs in the room that HF is in the area, even if this information is already posted on the emergency form? Lenny said extra signs on hoods would be a good idea.
• The mercury vacuum cleaner is in Joe Ustinowich's lab and will be returned to the closet where it is normally kept.

10. New Business

• How do we dispose of berylium windows? ANSWER: Call Chris Centrella at 6-3322 to pick them up.
• Andrea needs a sign to indicate that UV lamps are in use. These can be purchased through Lab Safety Supply.

Next Meeting: Wednesday, February 12, 2003 @ 12:00 noon, Maxwell/Dworkin 119