[labnetwork] After-hours work in cleanroom and laboratories

[Tom Reynolds]

Hi John,

 

I agree with John Shott.  UCSB follows the same type of system.  Our buddy
system is loose considering there seems to be multiple people in the lab at
any hour and it is hard to enforce the policy.  Strategically placed cameras
and announced coverage should prevent most shenanigans at night with no
staff on site.  The risk is acceptable for us.

 

Thanks,  Tom

 

From: labnetwork-bounces at mtl.mit.edu [mailto:labnetwork-bounces at mtl.mit.edu]
On Behalf Of John Shott
Sent: Wednesday, November 20, 2013 9:26 AM
To: Weaver, John R
Cc: labnetwork at mtl.mit.edu
Subject: Re: [labnetwork] After-hours work in cleanroom and laboratories

 

John:

While we've recently been able to incrementally bump up our staff coverage
so that it runs from approximately 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. M-F, at nights and
weekends we have no official staff on site.  As a result, we rely on:

1. The buddy system.

2. The fact that there tend to be experienced users around most of the time
that are willing to answer questions, help solve problems, etc.

3. We have a rotated on-call "duty phone" that can be used for emergency
use.

4. Facilities monitoring, toxic gas monitoring, etc are fully automated and
on-duty 24x7.  If any of those systems sense a problem, email, automated
phone dialers, communication to the fire department, and campus-facilities
takes over.

5. Users can't get to gas vaults, buk chemical storage, the basement (where
most pumps and chillers live) so they are somewhat limited in the range of
trouble that they can create.

All that said, more "curious events" do seem to happen in the evenings than
happens when staff is on site.  Given the staffing realities of most
university labs, I'm comfortable with this as a viable approach.

Good luck,

John


On 11/20/2013 5:40 AM, Weaver, John R wrote: 

Due to some headcount reductions we are re-thinking our after-hours lab
work. Previously we had trained "lab attendants" who watched over things
until midnight, then required the "buddy system" after that. Now we are
looking at just using the buddy system after 5:00 pm.

 

How do you handle things in your facility? Are you happy with the results?

 

Thanks in advance,

John

 

John R. Weaver

 

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