AMMRL:
Today's question is about non-NMR lab construction. I am looking for
answers from US academic labs that did building or major renovation in a
science building in the last 5 years;
1) Did you heat the eyewash/safety shower water?
2) Did you put floor drains in the labs? If not, why not. If yes,
where do they drain to?
Replies to me, not the list. Let me know if I can identify your
institution in my summary (both to the list and to our Planning group).
thanks,
kas
For those that want the back story:
We renovated part of the Chemistry building a few years ago. We are in
the planning stage of Phase II. We hope to correct things done in Phase
I that we are unhappy with. Among them are the two items above. We
were told that it was "required" by OSHA to heat the eyewash/shower
water. As far as we can tell, it is recommended, not required.
No floor drains were put in any of the labs. We were told that there is
a law or rule or regulation or requirement due to environmental concerns
about dumping chemicals into the city wastewater. But, so far, no one
can provide an actual cite. We can find a recommendation by the EPA
that lab floor drains go to a holding tank for proper disposal. (We do
not have such a tank.) EPA also appears to understand that dilution can
occur and can be acceptable. As would be expected, we have have several
floods due to the lack of floor drains. The water pools on the floor
and finds cracks and drips down to the space below. Anecdotal data is
worth what you pay for it, but we want drains put in, and are looking
for all the ammunition possible.
--
Karen Ann Smith Director, NMR Facility
Group Leader, Analytical Chemistry Services
Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology
Clark Hall MSC03 2060
1 University of New Mexico Albuquerque, NM 87131-0001
karenann_at_unm.edu 505.277.4031 http://nmr.unm.edu
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Received on Mon Jul 09 2018 - 03:40:30 MST