Meeting Minutes - DEAS/Physics Department Safety

Committee Meeting - January 14, 1998

1. The video, "Laser Safety", was shown (17 minutes).

A point made in the video which Lenny Solomon reiterated was that the longer one works with lasers, often, the more likely they are to have an accident. Sid Paula, EH&S Laser Safety Officer is a good resource to answer questions. To reach him go to the DEAS' Safety Web page, www-safety.deas.harvard.edu or through EH&s Web page.

2. Lab Inspection Schedules

Jennifer Mullin - Cruft and Pierce Halls will be inspected on February 12 beginning at 3pm. Jessica Smith - Jefferson and Lyman Labs will be inspected on February 10 and February 17 Carla Levy - Absent from meeting (Carla has since gotten in touch with Lenny. McKay will be inspected between February 17-19.)

3. Disposal of Hazardous Waste Training: Update - Lenny Solomon

Lenny said there are still a substantial number of DEAS and Physics people who have not been trained. He will contact these people before the February meeting, but needs the lists of these people dated. Lenny gave an example of a grad assistant in his group who is not on salary because he's here on fellowship. Consequently, he seems to be completely unlisted in department records because he is not on the payroll.

The next Hazardous Waste Training Session will be held on February 10th at 10 AM in room 107 of Mallinckrodt Lab (12 Oxford Street).

4. Report from Environmental Health and Safety - Peter Bochnak and Henry Littleboy a. Pete reported that he and Lenny met before the last meeting in December and discussed the Hazardous Waste Training Safety Web page database. They want the database to provide the name, department and e-mail address for all members of the departments who should be trained in hazardous waste disposal, that traces the dates each individual attended the hazardous waste seminar (Henry's talk), and that traces the annual on-line refresher course, etc. In relation to this, Steve Shepard asked for a list of all the people in his Clean Room who have met the EH&S Training requirements. He would like to post it on the door with a sign stating only people on the list can work in the Clean Room.

b. Speaking more generally about the importance of safety in the labs, Pete passed around two articles which discussed fatal and near fatal results due to unsafe practices in the lab. The first An article from the New York Times, 12/14/97, with the headline "A Drop Of Virus From a Monkey Kills a Researcher in 6 Weeks" discussed how a primate researcher died from exposure to herpes B virus. The other article from The Boston Globe has the headline, "Jury awarded $12.2 million to doctor infected with HIV virus". This pertained to a Yale intern who sued and won her case for improper training IV insertions. Pete said these articles prove that hands-on training is as important as OSHA required training.

c. Henry commented that if anyone is working with blood samples, they must be trained to follow correct practice.

d. Pete said the EPA might be inspecting Harvard and MIT campuses any time in the next several months. He added that they are much stricter than the DEP who inspected the Harvard Medical area last year. In preparation for this visit make sure your satellite area contents are all labeled and all chemicals are safely contained.

They will check for water, hazardous waste, and air pollution.

e. EH&S has so far assigned 24 people (on weekly shifts) to be available 24 hours per day in the event of a major safety emergency. They can be reached through the Operations Center (5-5560).

f. There are spill kits at the Palfry House, (38 Oxford) and 387 North Harvard street in the event of chemical spills. Lenny will post the location of local spill kits on the Web site.

g. Henry reported that he is working on the revised and updated Chemical Hygiene Plan. It consists of an administrative section, a general section and a specific lab section that relates to lab-dependent issues. Henry felt that the Web page would be a good place for each lab to post their Chemical Hygiene Plan. Henry's first draft will be done next week.

Old Business

Spill kits:
Jennifer said McKay has four kits, they are in 417, inside and outside the Clean Room in room 222, and in 312. Lenny asked that people check out the contents of their spill kits to make sure they are filled and then contact him by e-mail with orders for more stuff for confirmation that the spill kit is fully stocked. Jonathan Towle said he couldn't find any spill kits in Pierce Hall. Lenny said he'd order one. Henry asked that all the kits be stocked with Speedy Dry.

Lenny will have a Safety Seminar schedule by the February meeting. He will post it on the Web page.

New Business

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