[labnetwork] More on buddy system and a labnetwork suggestion / Fwd: 24/7 operations

[Abbie Gregg]

Dear Ian,
Great answers here about good ideas for safe 24 x 7 operations, and I am very interested in the Coral system interlock boxes and also to have more interactions in the "off years" between UGIM conferences.

Abbie Gregg
President
Abbie Gregg, Inc.
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email agregg at abbiegregg.com
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-----Original Message-----
From: labnetwork-bounces at mtl.mit.edu [mailto:labnetwork-bounces at mtl.mit.edu] On Behalf Of Ian Harvey
Sent: Tuesday, May 31, 2011 10:38 AM
To: labnetwork at mtl.mit.edu
Subject: [labnetwork] More on buddy system and a labnetwork suggestion / Fwd: 24/7 operations

Dear lab network,

Great forum.  Thanks to all for important feedback which I have compiled in the thread below.

Here at the Utah nanofab, we run 24/7 with training aimed at proper off-shift use of tools, and we work to create an enforceable buddy system, and build systems that make it easier for labmembers to adhere to the off-shift buddy system.  Our intent is: not having a safety buddy is not an option.

Among the tools we use to make it easier to adhere to the buddy system (and to silence complaints from faculty that the buddy system requirement is too onerous!) include:
a buddy system online calendar, buddy system mailing list, and even buddies for hire (trained undergrads willing to sit in the lab (doing homework) and be a buddy, for pay.  No one has used this last tool since it was implemented a year ago, but it has helped silence the faculty critics) http://fab.eng.utah.edu/buddy-tools

Outside the fab we have a monitor indicating who is inside (buddies are not required in the adjacent SEM/XPS lab or in the packaging lab).
http://fab.eng.utah.edu/index/about-us/Home/lab-members/userinlab

And we use the combination of card-key records (we have our own system, and so have real-time access) and video monitoring (including at wetbenches) to enforce the rule as others have indicated.  

Recently we began generating a monthly report of buddy system violations, sorted by research group, and send the relevant violations to the faculty PI along with their user fee invoice, so that he or she is aware of what is going on with their own group.  We do not necessarily associate (yet) disciplinary measures with this report, as we wish to initially just raise the visibility of the need for adherence (and the fact that we are paying attention) first.

We do not yet have a culture wherein the labmembers themselves feel a sufficient sense of ownership that they are generally willing to either confront a safety violator in the lab, or else report violations.  But it is part of our formal training, that "someone else's safety violation certainly affects you in a number of ways, including..."  Such a culture is an ideal that we are striving for: self-monitoring & self-correction among the labmember community.  In order to achieve this sense of ownership, belonging, responsibility & accountability, we have had our student representatives assist us by actually writing the policies and being involved in scheduled and weekly lab cleans.
http://fab.eng.utah.edu/uploads/pdfs/Nanofab_User_Policy%20Aug_2010.pdf

As we prepare to move into our new facility, we will be making additional improvements to the buddy system:
(1) by implementation of CORAL and interlock boxes on each of the tools (now in progress), we will be able to begin billing based on time spent on a tool, rather than time spent in the lab.  Our interest in the buddy system is a key driver for this administrative change.  We hope that by so doing, a researcher will be able to more easily find a colleague to be a buddy (or associate in the same research group, perhaps), since that buddy will not have to pay to be in the lab.

(2) our new facility includes a clean conference room attached to the fab and accessible in the bunny suit as well as from a pedestrian entrance (think of the negotiation table between N & S Korea, entered on either side with a symbolic barrier to crossing between.  Since ours is not complete yet, here is a link to the Korean table!).  
http://www.traveladventures.org/continents/asia/panmunjom2.shtml
One of the functions of our clean conference room at night will be for buddies not working on the fab tools to have a place to sit in a bunny suit and work on reports or mask designs or device simulations.

(3) Carding out of the lab, we will be implementing an annunciator to indicate if someone is about to exit, and leave someone else stranded without a buddy.  Clearly, the policies and software methods for allowing someone to enter alone (needs a buddy to also enter within a prescribed period) or exiting (and potentially stranding someone) requires special attention, and we are working on how to implement this presently.

ASIDE: As a result of the recent informative LABNETWORK thread on TMAH, we are implementing changes in our lab.  My recent question posed to the LABNETWORK on alarm response protocols was also very helpful in providing us much useful information. 

I suggest that in addition to the UGIM meetings held once per year and which describe these types of management topics, Perhaps we should also have some forum in the "off-years" to get into detail regarding the soft administrative systems, and provide a means of sharing not only best practices, but also code for the soft systems themselves.  For example we are implementing CORAL with home-designed interlock boxes with off-the-shelf components, and are quite willing to share our design and the associated CORAL software modules.  We are currently in the planning/design stage of our new prox-card entry and tool enable system with associated buddy system features.  Others have implemented add-ons to CORAL, or perhaps generated their own soft admin systems with modules that can be ported to others.  Is it worthwhile attempting something such as this?  We at Utah would be happy to host the first, unless someone else would like to do it.

Thank you all,

--Ian

********************************************
Ian R. Harvey, Ph.D.
Research Associate Professor
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Adjunct Associate Professor
Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering
2232 MEB

Associate Director, Utah nanofab
College of Engineering / University of Utah

mail to suite 2110 MEB, 50 S. Central Campus Drive
Salt Lake City, Utah   84112-9011
801/585-6162 (voicemail)
801/581-5676 (lab main number)
www.nanofab.utah.edu


Begin forwarded message:

From: "Hathaway, Malcolm" <hathaway at cns.fas.harvard.edu>
Date: May 31, 2011 7:07:41 AM MDT
To: "labnetwork at mtl.mit.edu" <labnetwork at mtl.mit.edu>
Subject: Re: [labnetwork] 24/7 operations

Hi all,

This is Mac Hathaway, at Harvard CNS.  We have protocols in place similar to those described by John, with the exception that our "toxic" gases (flammables and anything monitored with sensors, Cl2, SiH4, BCl3, etc) are only enabled from 6 AM to 8 PM.  We have had discussions about whether this restriction is still needed, given the maturity of our toxic gas monitoring, but 6 AM-8 PM is the current scheme.  Everything else in the cleanroom is physically accessible 24/7 (most notably, from a safety standpoint, wetbenches).

One thing that is a little different here is that we have an ERT (Emergency Response Team), similar to what exists in many commercial fabs, (not typical for academic sites, as I understand it).  The ERT consists of most of our cleanroom staff.  We meet monthly for training (and pizza), and we are all on call in the event of an emergency in the cleanroom.

We have the buddy rule for working with hazardous materials, with a strong emphasis on the need for a buddy for any work during "off-hours", but as John pointed out, it's not something that lends itself to absolute compliance.  With regard to "encouraging compliance", how do people feel about the use of video cameras on the wetbenches?  I understand that some locations are using them;  has wetbench user "behavior" improved when cameras are in use?  Obviously, 24-hour monitoring is not practical, but does the "someone is watching" effect yield positive results?


Mac Hathaway
Senior Process Engineer
Harvard CNS



Begin forwarded message:

From: "Luciani, Vincent" <vincent.luciani at nist.gov>
Date: May 31, 2011 7:29:28 AM MDT
To: "'Matthieu Nannini, Dr.'" <matthieu.nannini at mcgill.ca>, "labnetwork at mtl.mit.edu" <labnetwork at mtl.mit.edu>
Subject: Re: [labnetwork] 24/7 operations

Hello Matt,
 
Here at the CNST NanoFab (http://www.nist.gov/cnst/index.cfm), we are staffed from 7 AM to midnight,  M-F.  We use card key access control system and Coral.  All users are locked out after hours and we program their afterhours access into the system after their request for after hours access is approved.
 
·         Advance notification, the day before is fine.  That way we can avoid any tool repair or facilities conflicts. The advance notification also helps me help others to find a buddy if needed.
o   A loose, casual buddy agreement between users, leading to one user leaving before another or one working in their office while the other was in the lab was a common failure mode at first. So, we require verbal or email confirmation from both people that they are committed to being each other's buddy at all times.
·         Once approved, they can use all tools/processes.
·         We use deterrence to discourage cheating, because it will happen.  I randomly check Coral records and our CCTV video tapes and suspend/revoke cleanroom privileges for violators (from a 2 week suspension to full revocation depending on the degree of fraud/abuse).  Word travels fast when this happens and is a strong deterrent.
·         Some tools outside the cleanroom, like the FIB or AFM, can be used without a buddy after I confirm with whoever trained them that they have the required proficiency.
·         The NanoFab staff is notified automatically via Blackberry about any gas or fire alarm 24/7.
 
Let me know how it goes for you.
 
Vince
 
 
Vincent K. Luciani
NanoFab Manager
Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology National Institute of Standards and Technology 100 Bureau Drive, MS 6201 Gaithersburg, MD 20899-6200 USA
+1-301-975-2886