Dr. Facey, AMMRL;
Sounds like a good idea ... there is the image of the mat wrapped around the
magnet and the quench tubes frosty on a Monday morning that immediately
comes to mind...but it is the age old matter of risk vs.. benefit.
We too have a very large machine facility down the hall and we use carpets
on the entrances of our lab spaces. The tiny magnetic particles that find
their way to the magnets tend to attach themselves to the bottom of the
magnet and are easily wiped away with a Kim-Wipe and alcohol. From the size
and look of these motes they seem to come out of the air either as dust
created from the foot wiping or from the machining process ... which is
more unlikely in our environments since we have a very good high flow AC
system. You must also be wary of non-ferrous airborne particles that can
attach themselves through static charges.
As a more general lab comment other sites are sure to verify ... it is hard
to get cleaning help who are not afraid of the technology in our labs. They
often are chased out by the PI's for fear of damage they can do. They also
may not even do the minimum required sweeping ... let alone mopping which
should be done at least weekly. This is certainly a thorny housekeeping
issue that truly requires only a small amount of training and supervision to
get quality work from these folks. I am not averse to swinging a mop or
operating a sponge ... but I do it if I have to.
I also have been a worker in the Vigilate intelligence community in the
Florida Keys ... our number one maintenance problem on our sensor platforms
came from foreign materials. So it is my suggestion that periodically the
users of the lab should pitch in to do a good spring cleaning to the lab
spaces that they help dirty. IMHO--Engineering measures are not the only
line of defense against FOD (foreign object damage) .... Cheers to Good
Housekeeping:)
Robert Harker
//////( - )\\\\\\
NMR Engineer
University of Florida
NMR Labs Dept. Chemistry
Gainesville, Florida 32611-7200
rharker_at_chem.ufl.edu
-----Original Message-----
> From: Glenn Facey [mailto:gafacey_at_science.uottawa.ca]
> Sent: Tuesday, January 15, 2002 10:59 AM
> To: ammrl_at_chemnmr.colorado.edu
> Subject: magnetic foot mats
st1\:*{behavior:url(#default#ieooui) }
We are about to open a new NMR lab which is a short distance down the hall
from a machine shop. My concern is that small metal filings will cling to
the shoes of those walking past the machine shop and find their way into the
lab and inevitably the magnets. A colleague of mine suggested that I buy
some magnetic sheeting (used commonly for signs for cars etc..) as a foot
mat near the entrance to help pull the filings off shoes. Have any of you
used such things? I have heard that tacky mats can be high maintenance so I
would like to avoid them. Are their any other suggestions for this concern?
Dr. Glenn A. Facey
NMR Facility Manager
University of Ottawa
ph (613) 562 5800 ext 6077
fax (613) 562 5170
gafacey_at_science.uottawa.ca
Received on Wed Jan 16 2002 - 09:50:38 MST