Chemical Safety Committee Meeting Minutes- December 14, 2020

Committee
: 
Chemical Safety
Meeting Date
: 
Monday, December 14, 2020

  1. Members in Attendance- Ruth LeBlanc, Christy Gorman, Chris Angle, Stephanie Thibault, Sujan Bhattarai, Kandis Gilmore, Ryan Brown, Ryan Grumich, Phillip Mooney, Shahram Marivani, Gloria Allen, Roger Mamer, Aimee Graham, Shannon Edwards

  2. Inspections-

  1. RSS implementation is going very well on campus. Self-inspections and external inspections are up dramatically, with a 94% compliance rate and at 323% increase in usage. 

  2. EH&S will be inspecting Chem/Bio early next year.

  3. Student Safety Training forms must be reviewed as part of these inspections. Christy presented statistics provided by Rosemary as a standard for departmental tracking; the figures showed the number of students enrolled and the number that had completed their SST forms. Stephanie pointed out that the forms were supposed to be completed as a condition of enrollment.

    1. Stephanie inquired about Student Safety forms for working with cadavers, can/should they be separate? Ruth clarified that the current form distributed to students enrolling in cadaver courses can add to but not take away from the standard SST form. The cadaver form must be vetted against the current SST form to ensure the same standard is maintained.

  1. Housekeeping

  1. Chris mentioned that several departments have worked with him to build spill kits. He mentioned that the department is responsible for providing all materials for a spill kit, but he is happy to meet with anyone that is trying to build effective spill kits and assist with the process. He encouraged departments to build spill kits specific to designated areas of coverage. 

  2. Ruth mentioned that the storage area in the basement of Darwin had to be cleaned, there were many fire hazards. She cautioned the community to be wary of donations that will likely incur disposal costs down the road. 

  1. RSS Integration

  1. Inspections: follow-up on observations/findings- Christy emphasized using the RSS help desk if anyone was having an issue updating an in-progress violation. Shahram mentioned that he was having this issue. 

  2. Assessments: 

    1. For shared spaces (no owner), SOP/PHA should be used to determine potential hazards and enforce safety protocols. Ruth emphasized that if an IST was aware of safety concerns in a facility with no clearly accountable person in charge, they could let EH&S know and she would intervene at the administrative level. 

    2. Chris mentioned the departing faculty checklist, which Ruth stated was still at the Academic Affairs level. 

    3. Stephanie asked if ISTs were supposed to be prompting faculty to do PHAs. Ruth stated that RSS Assess was appropriate for most faculty working in their own research lab. Christy mentioned that PHAs are a good tool for shared spaces or any other high-risk area that is identified. It was clarified that there was no requirement to do PHAs or assessments for instruction rooms where no research is being conducted. 

  3. Chemicals

    1. Inventory migration coming soon, Stephanie in Biology is the beta test for RSS inventory which will be adopted across the campus. Stephanie mentioned that there are some new metrics in the inventory (such as container type) which are new and will slow down the process. There was discussion of adding drop down menus to increase the efficiency.

  4. EHS Website

    1. There is a Custodial Protocol in Laboratories page that everyone is encouraged to become familiar with. 

      1. Stephanie mentioned that there have been incidents where students have urinated in the classroom and the Custodial department was unwilling to clean it, and the UPD wanted to lock the building down. 

      2. Everyone agreed that urine was not a biohazard. Ruth said to call her if that happens again.

    2. Chris showed everyone the training section to ensure that this community was familiar with the resource. 

  5. Hazardous Chemical Procurement Program

    1. Chris reviewed the new flowchart with the group. 

      1. Stephanie pointed out that people are able to order ethanol on campus using her license, which she is the only person that should be capable of this.

      2. Ruth stated that we will vet that problem with procurement. 

    2. Aimee suggested getting a QR code posted that takes students to MSDS online. The EH&S team will follow up on that.

  6. New Business – Ryan Brown and Ruth discussed a laser in the physics department after the meeting had ended. She gave him guidance regarding safe access and use of the equipment.