DEAS/Physics Safety Committee

Meeting Minutes

Wednesday, February 13, 2002
Noon-1:00PM

1. Video - "Carpal Tunnel Syndrome" (14 minutes)

Mike Labosky commented that people with RSI symptoms should fill out an incident report form. EH&S has many resources to assist with RSI problems. They have online web education, onsite training and can provide training in ergonomics for larger groups.

2. 2000/2001 Lab Inspection Reports - Team Chairs

A. Team # 3 (Cruft/Pierce) Alex Soldotov, Ben Peirce, Chris Slowe, Stan Cotreau and Joe Ustinowitz:

• Hau Lab / First floor Cruft
  • Laser sign was not on when a low power laser was running.
  • No fire extinguishers
  • Hoses on floor in clean room
  • Safety glasses should be put near the door for easy access (were moved during our inspection)
  • Spill kit may be needed?
  • Information about hazards must be added to the Emergency contact info for certain rooms
• Electronics shop / second floor Cruft
  • Cords running on or near floor are to be neatened up to avoid a tripping hazard
• Pierce wind tunnel room
  • 2 containers of isopropyl alcohol on the floor with no secondary containment
• Pierce machine shop
  • Emergency contact info on door was outdated (1997)
  • No oil spill kit readily available
  • 2 containers of isopropyl on the floor
• Pierce Room G7c
• Pails of oil on floor with no secondary containment
• Emergency Contact info on door is outdated
• Howe Lab
  • Found 3 5 gallon pails of Silicon Polymer on bookshelf with no secondary containment (dangerous fluid???)
  • 2 small jars of silicon polymer near sink
  • Air conditioner in room b11a vents into room b11
  • Room b11 has an open belt on the air handler in the ceiling
• Pierce Room B12
  • Tank of unidentified green fluid under the floor. What is it? Hazardous? No signage??
  • Laser sign on the door but no laser in the room
  • Small room off to the side filled with junk. There is a falling hazard in that room as the pile of junk could fall onto someone. Also in this small room are "U" tubes that look like they contain mercury
• Pierce Room B12 (Hydraulic lab)
  • Mercury in "U" tubes (a very dangerous hazard - it is better to dispose if not used )
• Pierce Room G7a
  • Unmarked fluids near sink with no secondary containment
  • Box on floor with unmarked fluid with no secondary containment
  • A bottle with chemical sitting right on the electric cable…
  • Container for glass disposal is missing
  • No emergency contact info on door
• Pierce Room B2-B5
  • Many small compressed gas cylinders on the floor that are not tied down (approx 25)
  • Small demonstration cylinders were found in a cabinet lying down, some are 20 yrs old
  • No secondary containment in the flammable cabinet
  • Rear (emergency?) exit from the room to the stairs is blocked with junk
• Pierce room G11(Mechanical lab), G12 a,b
• No fire extinguishers
• No secondary containment for solvents
• No emergency contact info on doors
• A cylinder with compressed gas was not tied down (G12)

 

B. Team # 1 (McKay 1-3) Jeff Miller:

• Narayanamurti Lab
  • No Problems found.
• Pershan Lab:
  • Coffee cup found near fume hood (room 318) -otherwise no problems.
• Mazur Lab:
  • Stray laser light on wall (room 328)...not a direct beam, probably not dangerous.
  • Coffee cup near chemicals, room 329A
  • Electric cord streched across aisle, room 329A -Otherwise no problems.
• Tinkham Lab:
  • HF present, no antidote (room 221)
  • Large gas cylinder not tied down properly (shielded room 221)
  • Long exhaust hose from pump in closet, extends across 2 rooms to fume hood (room 221)...possible tripping hazard
• Marcus Lab:
  • No problems
• Westervelt Lab:
  • Group safety officer lives in California (has graduated)
  • Coffee maker in lab area (room 214)
• SEM lab:
  • Need to create satelite accumulation area after new construction completed (room 106E)
  • Several large gas cylinders not tied down (106K)
• Cleanroom:
  • Inner cleanroom smells strongly of photoresist (carcinogenic). Photoresist waste should be ventilated. (Upstairs inner cleanroom)
  • HF could probably be stored away from other acid bottles to avoid accidental contact when accessing other acids. (Upstairs cleanroom)
  • Fumehood/laminar flow hood. Some users concerned about effectiveness of fume hood due to excessive odors during use. (Upstairs inner cleanroom)
  • Couldn't find safety glasses (Downstairs Cleanroom).

 

C. Team # 4 (Lyman) Gary Zabow

• General:
  • First floor corridor of Lyman has lots of (combined Silvera and Doyle) equipment stored in it. Either remove or at least store all on same side of corridor for better access.
• Silvera Lab
  • General: chemical spray bottles in lab not in 2nd containment. Hard to get to emergency electrical shut offs cause of general clutter around them.
  • L132
    • Random old chemicals stored under hood, no 2nd. Containment. Suggest general cleanup of hood area and storage cabinet beneath.
    • Compressed gas cylinder tied to wheeling cart. Ok for moving, but maybe should be better secured when in lab?
    • Small lecture gas bottles/cylinders lying unsecured on shelf.
    • Cryogenic helium dewar not well secured.
    • Wash basin for food plates, mugs etc is in lab; should have this sink in office instead of lab.
  • L130,127
    • HF antidote is out of date. Replace.
    • Gas cylinder tied to wheeling cart. Maybe could be better secured in lab.
    • Laser warning lights are broken.
    • Fume hood is very full, cluttered.
  • L128
  • Many old chemicals stored in fridge, including, e.g., many half empty bottles of hydrogen peroxide. Same fridge also contains unclearly labeled cartons of ice-cream?
  • Eyewash station is needed
• Doyle Lab
  • General: chemical spray bottles need 2nd containment in lab
  • L27
    • Hard to reach emergency electrical shutoff. Move toolchest from in front of it.
    • Small compressed gas cylinder lying unsecured on table.
    • No laser goggles near door.
  • L31
    • 2nd containment in hood needed.
    • Pump is exhausting into lab (albeit thru oil/mist filter). Suggest running exhaust into fume hood nevertheless.
    • General clutter blocking eyewash and safety shower.
    • Compressed gas cylinders in corridor outside not secured
  • L??? = Doyle New lab
    • Probably most of this stuff is because of transient move-in phase. But anyway,
    • Need access info sheet on door.
    • Need fire extinguishers.
    • Need laser safety goggles near door.
    • Need rope around pit (right behind computers with rolling chairs).
    • In general too new to have problems.
• Horowitz Lab
  • Need fire extinguishers. Maybe needs an eyewash station, tho' chemicals not widely used.
  • Need to update their emergency access info sheets on lab doors.
  • Ethyl alcohol spray bottle with no 2nd containment found in food area next to microwave and food fridge.

   

D. Team # 5 (Jefferson) Bob Michniak

• We inspected the labs of Prof. Silvera, Prentiss, Gabrielse, and Golevchenko in the Jefferson Building.
• In general, things were in pretty good order.
• The violations/problems that we found were:
• SILVERA:
  • Room 158: Bicycles were kept in this room
  • Room 130: The fume hood in this room was very messy, and seemed to be used for some chemical storage.
• PRENTISS:
  • 150b : Fume hood label was out of date. The fire extinguisher in this room had not been inspected in the last year.
• GABRIELSE:
  • 161: Fume hood needs inspection label
  • There were cables running throughout the lab on the floor that seemed to be a tripping hazard.
  • Some chemical waste containters were not stored in proper secondary containment units (some solvent bottles were kept on the floor).
  • General chemical storage hygiene could be improved
• GOLEVCHENKO 164:
  • Label on fume hood out of date.
  • A few cables were running on the floor.

3. Inspection Reports to be read at March meeting:

Team # 2 -- Frank Molea (McKay 4-5)
Team # 6 -- John Chervinsky (ESL/HEPL)
Team # 7 -- Nan Shen (Link)
Team # 8 -- Tanya Zelevinsky (Maxwell/Dworkin)
Team # 9 -- Lenny Solomon (ART Shop)

4. On-line Laser Training - Rob Stanhope

The video editing process is still plagued with software crashes. After we receive the upgrade for Adobe Premiere, we hope to be able to finish the project.

5. EH&S Report

• Howard and Ed Jackson are working on the Hyd. Phosphine ventilation in Pierce B4.
• McKay 225 - the ventilation is ok for hydrogen
• EH&S has been working on a Cambridge version of a flip-chart containing emrgency information. They are close to having it printed.

6. Hazardous Waste Training Report - Rob Stanhope

• Rob reported that many people have not conpleted their online retraining despite repeated reminders via email.
• Rob also reported on some minor violations found during the monthly SAA inspections.

7. Old Business

• Evacuation Forms - We still have not received 4 evac. forms. Everyone must turn them in!
• Select Agent Forms - have not received 2 forms. Everyone must turn them in!
• Exhaust for Mazur Lab - Ed Jackson reported it will be ready in 2 weeks.

8. New Business

• Lenny will have the new 2002 Safety Seminar schedule ready at the next meeting.
• There have been several complaints that hazardous waste is not being picked up even after EH&S has been called.

Next Meeting: Wednesday, March 13th, 12:00 noon, Maxwell/Dworkin 119