[labnetwork] eyewash & safety shower horns & strobes

[Danny Pestal]

A few years ago a UC Berkeley NanoLab researcher was loading a cassette of
wafers into a HF bath when the handle popped off, dropping the cassette
into the bath and creating a splash. The lab member was sure they felt a
splash on their body and immediately went to the closest emergency shower,
disrobed and got in the shower. It was in the middle of the day, in a lab
full of researchers and staff and no one knew the lab member was in the
shower and possibly needed help. (Ultimately the lab member had no actual
exposure to HF.)

This experience led us to make a few changes to our showers:

1) We added easily deployable shower curtains since a few of our showers
are located near windows and we wanted to reduce any amount of hesitation
one might have to remove contaminated clothing.

2) We added large yellow buttons to each shower that when pressed make an
announcement over our lab/office paging system alerting everyone that
assistance is needed at that shower location.

While both changes increase the safety of the lab, the "e-button" addition
feels invaluable, especially since our lab covers two floors and is open
24/7.

-Danny Pestal

Equipment & Facilities Manager
UC Berkeley NanoLab
510-809-8600







On Wed, Apr 22, 2026, 1:20 PM Kyle Keenan <kckeenan at seas.upenn.edu> wrote:

> Hello All,
>
> I'm curious to know whether or not your facilities have eyewash & safety
> shower stations that utilize horns and/or strobes at the local level. We
> have both at QNF, and there is a school of thought that the horns are so
> loud they could startle the very people who are trying to use these
> stations, which would not be ideal in a situation where every second counts.
>
> I would be interested in knowing about your setups, and the
> thought process behind having/not having these features.
>
> Best,
> --
> Kyle Keenan
>
> Senior Manager - Laboratory Operations
> Quattrone Nanofabrication Facility
> University of Pennsylvania
> P: 215-898-7560
> F: 215-573-4925
>
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