This issue has come up several times a t our facility. Engineers do not want to go up to change a belt and cite vi sible losses in the ducts as a source of exposure. They do not know what might be exposed to and they are right. Design is the key, once you have a bad system, it can be difficult to work with. We have discussed off hour m aintenance, but have nothing in writing. Never even discussed LOTO of fume hoods, perhaps out of fear of Faculty backlash. Saturdays and Sundays are a good time to perform maintenance, but what if someone has left something in the< /st1:PersonName> hood, running, uncapped, etc. Are the trades’ capable of recognizing chemical hazards in the lab? Abating the hazard without the lab staff?

We have locked machine rooms at the penthouse, but roof hatches (not bulk head) are not locke d. Parapet also adds to concerns of exposure.

I can say that we have multi million d ollar project ongoing to install strobic fans which may eliminate the need for maintenance and frequent belt changes. These new fans have redundancy built in and eject exhaus t well out of the building env elope. I can’t wait to see how they perform and the noise they will produce.< /font>

I like the Arizona < st1:PlaceType w:st="on"> University model for lab hood LOTO, but how doe s this work in practice? Who handles the complaints from PI’s claiming they have grant deadlines to meet?

Have a nice weekend all

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From: DCHA S-L Discussion List [mailto:DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**LIST.UVM.EDU] On Behalf Of Wawzyniecki Jr, Stefan
Sent: Friday, October 30, 20 09 9:55 AM
To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**LIST.UVM.EDU
Subject: [DCHAS-L] Roof top exhaust fan maintenance Policy

In general, maintenance staff working on rooftop fume ho od exhaust equipment have indicated their concerns about being on a roof, and possibly being exposed to whatever is being vented.  < /span>

 

In a more specific laboratory situation, involving MOCVD (metal organic chemical vapor deposition), we have a lock-out tag-out policy, due to the se verity of the toxic gases invo lved.

 

Questions:

 

1. Does anyo ne else have MOCVD labs, and to what extent are controls in place for prote ction of workers on roof tops?
2. Do es anyone else employ a LOTO policy?   
3. Are roof tops key-accessible only?< /o:p>

 

Thanks for the feedback.

 

-Stefan Wawzyniecki, CIH, CHMM< /p>

  University of Connecticut