DEAS/Physics Safety Committee

Meeting Minutes

Wednesday, April 11, 2001
Noon-1:00PM

1. Video - "Sun Safety: A Growing Health Concern" (11:46 minutes)

2. 2000/2001 Lab Inspection Reports

Teams 5 and 8 were scheduled to present their inspection reports; however, Chip Coldwell (Team 8) was not present. We heard the following inspection report of Jefferson presented by Lenny Solomon (Team 5):

a) Team # 5 - Jefferson (Lenny Solomon)

Inspected on March 12, 2001 by John Chervinsky, Hasan Guzel, Alex Soldatov, Lenny Solomon (Chair), Wei Yi(absent)

• Rm. 168 - Question: No one is currently working in this room and it is quite a mess. Should it be cleaned up?
• Rm. 164 -
  • (1) Question: Exhaust hose for portable hood (might be a laminar flow table) not connected. Hood is exhausting to room. Is this a problem?
  • (2) Pump by sink lacks a pump guard over pulley.
  • (3) Fire extinguisher last inspected in 1999.
  • (4) Question: Is HV on SEM disengaged when cabinet is opened?
• Rm. 162 - No inspection tag on fire extinguisher
• Rm. 161 -
  • (1) Two fire extinguishers last inspected in 1999.
  • (2) Observation: The laser area is extremely cramped. It really needs more room.
  • (3) The HV leads to argon laser should be labeled "HV."
• Rm. 158 (Electrical shop) - "Food Only" label needed on refrigerator.
• Rm. 150 - Fire extinguisher last inspected in 1999.
• Rm. 150b -
  • (1) Fire extinguisher lacks inspection tag.
  • (2) Calcium Glutonate needs to be restocked.
• Prentiss Main Lab (did not see room number) -
  • (1) No emergency contact sign on door.
  • (2) Fire extinguisher last inspected in 1999.
  • (3) Room darkening shades needed to shield windows from Class 3B and Class 4 lasers.
  • (4) Laser warning light needed outside of door.
• Rm. 145 - "Food Only" label needed on refrigerator.
• Rm. 261 - "Food Only" label needed on refrigerator.

b) Team # 8 - Maxwell/Dworkin (Chip Coldwell) - absent from meeting. Must present report at May meeting.

3. Follow-up Reports on Lab Inspections

a) McKay 2nd Floor: absent from meeting again. Must present report in May.

b) Cruft/Pierce Hall: absent from meeting. Must present report in May.

c) ESL/HEPL:

• Mitchell
  • Rm. 203 - room not in use; therefore, the locked door is not a problem.
  • Rm. 302 - gas smell taken care of.
  • Rm. 304 - chemical bottles are ok.
  • Rm. 305 - room still needs an SAA.
  • Rm. 328 - cylinders in sink have been removed.
• Martin - all door signs updated; other issues taken care of.
• Weitz
  • Rm. 205c - signage posted; no lasers present in the room.
  • Rm. 213 - sign is ok; cord on floor has been taped-over.
  • Rm. 214 - ramp problem will be fixed by Ed Jackson to cover pipes.
  • Rm. 215 - Ed Jackson will cap off pipes. Refrigerator has been labelled.
• HEPL
  • signs will be posted.
  • new cabinet has been purchased.
  • sign will be posted on refrigerator.
  • cords will be worked on.

d) Anderson/Wofsy:

• Anderson
  • chemicals in hood are not a hazard
  • will put sign up for cylinder
  • Rm. 125 - fume hood has been certified
  • bottle in hood cleaned-up
  • got rid of used flammable materials
• Wofsy - no one was present to give a follow-up report. None of the Wofsy issues were of any concern.

4. EH&S Report - Mike Labosky

• EH&S will be moving to 1033 Mass. Ave. in May
• Mike reported on a new "computer-aided dispatch" database which will be maintained by the Operations Center. It's a database that contains information on each room in every building. Contact information for every room will also be maintained in the database. It will be web-based and Jay Phillips is the person who is running the program. Supervisors should get a super-user account. Lenny Solomon said he would be a "super-user" and input the information for DEAS.
• Asbestos Awareness Training will be offered by Garrett Burke. It will be about 2 hours duration.
• The new EH&S website will be up and running in May.

5. Hazardous Waste Training Report - Rob Stanhope

Rob read a list of names of people who need to update their online training in April.

6. Old Business

The laser safety training online video should be ready by this summer.

7. New Business

• The Iron Age Safety Shoe truck will be visiting Harvard on May 17th at 11:00am-1:00pm. It will be parked near Maxwell-Dworkin or in back of Pierce Hall. The Safety Committee issue up to $80 reimbursements for safety shoes.
• Lenny asked Ed Jackson and Stuart McNeil to schedule fire extinguisher training.
• Andrea Del Vecchio asked if mechanical pumps for vacuums should be vented to the outside. According to Lenny, if the pump is just pumping air, there is no need to vent to the outside. Filters must be maintained.

Next Meeting: Wednesday, May 9th, 12:00 noon, Maxwell/Dworkin 119