DCHAS-L Discussion List Archive
Date: Mon, 12 Jul 2010 09:01:11 -0700
Reply-To: DCHAS-L Discussion List <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**LIST.UVM.EDU>
Sender: DCHAS-L Discussion List <DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**LIST.UVM.EDU>
From: Eric Clark <erclark**At_Symbol_Here**PH.LACOUNTY.GOV>
Subject: Re: Emergency Action Plan for science labs
In-Reply-To: <BBFA6832756A874D89D201416246904006E7B7BA**At_Symbol_Here**exchng2k.dom.edu>
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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