Department
of Plant and Soil Sciences
Laboratory Safety Committee Meeting Minutes Winter
2003 February 24, 2004 PLANT AND SOIL SCIENCES SAFETY COMMITTEE MEETING
MINUTES The minutes were
taken by Cindy Barnett. The meeting was called
to order at 9:00 AM. OLD BUSINESS INCIDENT(S) Robin
Elliott’ s
report Our next meeting
will be scheduled in April, 2004. Meeting adjourned
at 9:50 AM.
Attendees: Wallace Pill, Ted Peltier,
Robin Elliott, Teresa Holton, Caroline Golt, Maria Pautler, Cindy Barnett
and Jerry Hendricks.
Rooms 012, 013, 216, 218 and 222 TNS still have no emergency cards.
221 TNS has an emergency card but it is still not filled out.
The doorway between 304 & 306 WOR is permanently locked and a sign
needs to be posted “NOT AN EXIT”.
302 WOR – shower was inspected in January, 2004. There still is
no bio sticker on the hood. 125 WOR still has to have its fan/hood fixed.
These are both Leslie’s action items.
The storage cabinet in TNS hallway is Dr. Cliff Keil’s and he is
currently in the process
of moving it behind 002 TNS.
Ceiling tile outside of the library TNS has not been fixed. Orders
are being put in regularly. The greenhouse tiles have been fixed.
A request for a phone was put in by Amy Broadhurst for room 204 WOR.
Evacuation plan has been printed out and put up in Worrilow (by the
emergency phones).
No evacuation plan has been posted in the farmhouse (only one way
out).
Fire extinguishers all have new cards with plenty of room for the
custodians to check the level (should be in green zone).
During the last power failure Bernie Alexander did a “walk through” to
check the natural light and emergency lights in Worrilow.
CORRECTION OF PREVIOUS MINUTES – the plastic greenhouse collapsed
due to heavy snow, not the storm Isabel.
NEW BUSINESS
One graduate student still hasn’t completed the web training. Yan
Jin and Sherry Kitto each both have a new student that will have to take
the training.
Worker protection training has been completed for the greenhouse employees.
The inspection of the greenhouse has also been completed. Two new estimates
were given:$12,000 to fix the door and $75, 000 - $100,000 to remove
the lead paint and repaint. A two-page list was given to Dr. Sparks from
the inspection listing everything
that needs to be completed to bring “up-to-code”. The Fisher
Greenhouse is going on its 15th year and will be in need of repairs as
well.
The centralized Chemical Inventory Program is usable – but still
needs some repairs.
Security cameras will be placed in the hallways due to the number of
thefts. Larry Thornton is in the process of standardizing a contract
for the University. These cameras will be digital – they won’t
be monitored by people.
The emergency plan has not been updated as of yet.
The three PLSC classes for this semester have been registered for WebCT
Right-to-Know training. There is a form on the webpage that the students
can print out and bring to class on the first day.
A graduate student left material in the autoclave
overnight. The old polypropylene
container used started to deteriorate and filled the room
with fumes. In the morning she inhaled
these fumes when entering the room .
The student was taken directly to Christiana Hosp.
Occupational Health Services by Jerry Hendricks. After the appropriate
tests, there was no indication of any permanent
damage. Caroline Golt is going to write an SOP for the autoclave. Robin
is concerned as to whom, if anyone, is responsible for the upkeep of
materials used so this won’t happen again.
The first draft of the Academic Program Review of DOHS was given to
the University attorney. A second report will follow for general distribution.
T. Pizzolato reported a water problem in WOR. There was brown water.
Julie Burton was contacted and in turn contacted Joe Miller who came
down and handled the issue. There has been no brown water since. In
the future, if this happens again a sample should be taken directly
to Julie
Burton.
Backing up files. Toby is working on having the main computer center
up campus store our backed-up files. The plan is to have servers for
each
department. Employees can save their information to the departmental
server which will then be transferred to the university server.
Injury reports that are submitted should have a more detailed
description of the injury –
Ex. Knee injury
Knee injury with bruising and redness.
The Safety Beacon is a new newsletter that is being distributed quarterly.
If you would like a hard copy please contact Robin.
Lab coat bags are available through Robin. They are for students
who wear lab coats, when leaving the lab - put their coat in the bag and
keep it
until
the next time they enter the lab. This bag has instructions on the front
for its
proper use. These cost about 10 cents a piece. Excellent idea and should
be encouraged to use. Robin would eventually like to market these bags.
Still no laundry service for the lab coats.
Working on a grant for Emergency Planning.
The Emergency Operations Plan was submitted to the National Safety Council
for an award.
The Chemical Hygiene committee is meeting this week. There will be a radiation
lab audit on Thursday (internal). Working on putting together a biosafety
audit. These should be done every other year and our last one was three
years ago.
Currently talking to a woman in Belgium about possibly handling this.
Respectively submitted by Cindy Barnett.