Monona, This e-mail was forwarded to me for assistance. So I will give it a shot. The first question you need to ask before you go any further is, "Will it make any difference to the Arts staff (will they do what you say) and do you want it legal or just CYA?" As far as evaluating it, you can do most of it yourself. My first concern is the "Rube Goldbergesque" electrical thingies. These are almost NEVER legal contraptions so forbid them. When looking at these and other items to be moved you will want to see an FM or UL approval label. I bet you don't find one! So to make it easy on yourself make a policy that No FM, UL or similar approval label, it has no place in your new or even old facility. Machine guarding should be easier but it is not. The simple answer is "No Guard, No Move". This however will require you to do an assessment on each piece of equipment and prove to the owner that a guard is required. Electrical codes vary from place to place so this is not always easy either. If you have a competent electrician on staff, then ask them for assistance. They should know the local codes and be able to RED TAG unsafe or code non-compliant equipment. Going forward, I would make policy that home-made items are forbidden on your campus, period! Fixing problems like this is much harder to do if you don't make a policy to prevent it from occurring in the future. If you don't, you will be fighting it forever. I hope this helps, Good luck! Barry Rutledge Managing Partner Protech ECS rutledge**At_Symbol_Here**protechecs.com Barry, Can you help them? -----Original Message----- From: DCHAS-L Discussion List [mailto:DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**LIST.UVM.EDU] On Behalf Of ACTSNYC**At_Symbol_Here**CS.COM Sent: Tuesday, April 11, 2006 1:39 PM To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**LIST.UVM.EDU Subject: electrical/guarding equipment safety Dear group. I'm on the planning team for a large new art building in Philly. It means moving a lot of equipment from the old building to the new building--provided the equipment meets current electrical codes and OSHA guarding rules. The art metal/plastics laboratory that does jewelry and sculpture work in particular has tons of machinery. They have 50 year old equipment for cyanide plating that they want to bring--a whole row of these. There are dozens of other Rube Goldbergesque electrical thingies the likes of which I've never seen. They have every kind of metal working machines from laser cutters to mechanical shears. There are metal lathes that range from tiny bench models to 10 feet long. There is an ancient pressurized caldron-like reactor for making their own plastics from monomers! And on and on. WHERE oh, where do I find someone who knows enough about this stuff to evaluate it? What kind of job or title would such a person have? Monona Rossol, M.S., M.F.A., industrial hygienist Arts, Crafts & Theater Safety, Inc. 181 Thompson St., #23 New York NY 10012-2586 212/777-0062 artscraftstheatersafety.org Barry Rutledge Managing Partner Protech ECS www.protechecs.com 858-549-0211
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