[labnetwork] 24/7 operations

[Hughes, John S]

Hello Matthieu,

I think you already have a lot of feedback on this, but I'll go ahead and describe what we do here at the Micro and Nanotechnology Lab.

Our 16 cleanrooms are contiguous and have a single entry point with a card reader. The cleanrooms are accessible 24/7 and we enforce a buddy policy outside of our normally staffed hours (M-F 7:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.). We allow all activities to be conducted off-hours except equipment maintenance operations, but researchers are encouraged to do processing using hazardous gases only when staff are in the building. The hazardous gas vaults themselves are highly restricted and cannot be accessed except by a very few MNTL staff.

In order to make it a bit easier to work in the labs off-hours, we have have hired undergrads who are paid an hourly rate to act as buddies when needed. (They have other assigned tasks as well, primarily stocking supplies, cleaning, and managing the cleanroom garments.) The undergrad assistants are given safety training and they share an office area right across from the cleanroom entry. The hours they cover are 5:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. on weekdays, and 10:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. on weekends. At all other times, the researchers must make sure someone else is in the cleanrooms with them.

Our card entry system and some custom programming allows real-time monitoring of everyone in the cleanrooms. The computer at the entry has the cleanroom occupant list as its default home page; all the other computers throughout the lab can call up the list with a single click. We try to get everyone into the habit of checking frequently for other cleanroom occupants when they are working late.

We are strict about enforcement. The monitoring system automatically flags single occupants and sends out an e-mail to the transgressor, his/her advisor, and several MNTL staff. (There is a threshold which triggers the automated e-mails; five or ten minutes alone is tolerated.) The researchers get one warning. Upon the next offense they have an automatic two-week lab suspension. The third violation results in a one-month suspension, any more and they're banned permanently.

We also have cameras at the cleanroom entry and other locations, but they are not generally used for active monitoring. Rather, we check the video records if questions come up later about who was where, when.

Regards,
John

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John S. Hughes                         Office: (217) 333-4674
Associate Director                        FAX: (217) 244-6375
Laboratory Operations                     hughes at illinois.edu<mailto:hughes at illinois.edu>
Micro and Nanotechnology Laboratory
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
3114 Micro and Nanotechnology Laboratory
208 North Wright Street
Urbana, Illinois  61801              http://mntl.illinois.edu
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On May 27, 2011, at 2:47 PM, Matthieu Nannini, Dr. wrote:

Dear lab managers,

We are in the process of planning a transition to 24/7 operations for our fab. I would appreciate if some of you could share their experience and give advice on must-do's and must-not-do's regarding 24/7 operations. How do you manage staff ? any restriction in processes ? How do you re-inforce the buddy system ? Buddy system at all times or only for specific processes ? Any specific training for users willing to work overnight ?

Thanks in advance for your valuable insights.

-----------------------------------
Matthieu Nannini
McGill Nanotools Microfab
Manager
t: 514 398 3310
c: 514 758 3311
f: 514 398 8434
http://miam2.physics.mcgill.ca/
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