[labnetwork] [EXTERNAL] Re: eyewash & safety shower horns & strobes

[Ahad Syed]

Hello Kyle,

At NCL-KAUST, the safety showers and eyewash stations send a signal to our control room (which is manned 24/7) when activated. This allows staff to provide assistance to the person using these safety stations. The signals are unique, so the responder knows exactly where to go.


Regards,
Ahad

--
Nanofabrication Core Lab
4700 King Abdullah University of Science and Technology
0253 Building 3, Thuwal 23955-6900, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Tel:+966 12 808 2348
Visit The Core Labs<https://corelabs.kaust.edu.sa/visitor-information>
________________________________
From: labnetwork <labnetwork-bounces at mtl.mit.edu> on behalf of Danny Pestal <pestal at eecs.berkeley.edu>
Sent: Thursday, April 23, 2026 6:51 AM
To: Kyle Keenan <kckeenan at seas.upenn.edu>
Cc: Lab Network (labnetwork at mtl.mit.edu) <labnetwork at mtl.mit.edu>
Subject: [EXTERNAL] Re: [labnetwork] eyewash & safety shower horns & strobes

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<mailto: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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