Maybe you're right, Don. These things all look like car batteries - and the USP chassis is called a "Battery Cabinet" and they're 12V DC devices containing lead and sulfuric acid, and I could probably use one to jump start my car if I had to (looks like a duck). But the Fire Dept asked me to include the lead and sulfuric acid on the substance inventory, and I did because it was easier to add it to the list than to challenge them on it. Here's what they said, and it made sense to me: Firefighters bring up that CR2K database on a laptop in the truck on the way out to a fire so the scene commander knows what they're up against when the arrive. Firefighters just don't just automatically run into burning buildings anymore, and when they do they want to know what's in there. And now that Monona said these things might flame up unexpectedly - but very rarely (geeesh!) ... well, it seems like reporting that material is an even better idea now. >>> Don Wanamaker7/12/2010 10:49 AM >>> Eric/Kathleen, Wouldn't the Uninterupted Power Supply as described be excluded from compliance with Community Right To Know requirements since the batteries are consumer products and/or articles as defined by OSHA? This question comes up often for quantities above certain thresholds and becomes very onerous if the local jurisdiction also requires a Risk Management Plan if over that threshold quantity. If there's no risk to the community if one of these batteries leaked, why not exclude it from CRTK reporting if, in fact, the batteries meet either definition? djw Don Wanamaker Environmental Management, Ltd. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Eric Clark" To: Sent: Monday, July 12, 2010 12:01 PM Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Emergency Action Plan for science labs Kathleen, Most emergency power generators typically don't service the entire building, just the critical systems, and those are the ones with the red plugs or otherwise hard-wired into the building grid. Even that might not suffice for your needs, a typical emergency power generator requires 6 or 7 seconds before it actually restores power. But as we all know, that kind of power interruption can disrupt hundreds of sensitive automated laboratory analyses that took hours to set up. As Arnold would say: Beeeg Problem (especially if you have insufficient samples for re-runs!). That's where the Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS) comes in. It's basically a bank of several dozen continually-charging car batteries that will provide sufficient continuous AC power for 10 - 15 seconds to ultra-critical systems until the emergency power generator kicks in. And there are no moving parts. There are lots of different kinds out there. We happen to use the Eaton Powerware 9390 - actually two of them, set up side by side. One more thing about the UPS. Don't forget to report the lead and sulfuric acid on the annual Community Right To Know forms AND tell the local fire department about them and show them where they are! Eric Eric Clark, MS, CCHO, CHMM Safety & Compliance Officer Los Angeles County Public Health Laboratory >>> "Schmidt-Nebril, Kathleen" 7/8/2010 5:34 PM >>> My university recently was hit with a four day power outage due to severe storms. Our science building is recently new and has a back up generator however none of the main lab instruments or equipment were backed up to it. Hoods, lights and ventilation were. In the end we are looking at a huge insurance claim and are now trying to prepare an action plan for each of our labs in the event we go through something like this again. I am the CHO for the department and was asked to put this together. Does anyone know what OSHA standard, if any, I should be looking at for this? They want to incorporate a "what to do" list for example if none of the scientists were around someone from maintenance could follow it to turn off sensitive equipment in our absence. My thought on that is would we need to train and document anyone who might have to respond and use our action list? Kathleen
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