Safety Highlights

Safety Highlight Archive

Are you Prepared for Chemical Spills?
A recent spill of acetonitrile in one of our set up laboratories brought renewed attention to the importance of preparation for chemical spills. That spill resulted in a detailed critique and report of the findings. Please follow the link above and learn more.

NSLS Interlock and Shielding Requirements: A Lesson-learned from a Recent NSLS Non-conformance
Radiation dose to NSLS staff, users and visitors is very low despite use of very high intensity beams that can cause significant radiation exposure in a very short time. Prevention of exposure to these high intensity beams is provided by the personnel protection interlock systems, the beam pipes, the hutches, and the Bremsstrahlung and scatter radiation shields installed along each beam line. Rigorous control of the configuration of these systems is vital to our program for prevention of radiation exposure to personnel working on the experimental floor. Everyone is responsible to help assure that these systems are not disturbed without the required permits and involvement of the Operations Coordinator.

Protect Yourself When Handling Cryogens
Cryogens are useful tools for research conducted at the NSLS. They can freeze experimental samples to reduce thermal broadening effects and reduce radiation damage from the synchrotron beam, cool detectors to reduce thermal background, or reduce resistance to make electronic circuits superconducting. The two most frequently used cryogens are liquid nitrogen and liquid helium . As these cryogens warm up over time, they change from a liquid to a gas and expand in volume some 700 fold; thus one of their hazards is as asphyxiants, i.e. they displace oxygen. Rapid conversion from liquid to gas can result in significant pressure generation if contained in a sealed system.

LOTO: Don't Assume a Zero-Energy State
Service or maintenance on equipment that is normally connected to an electrical energy source has the potential to expose workers to serious injury. Electrocution, shock, and arc flash can result in skin burns, eye damage, hearing loss, shocks to the nervous system, muscle contractions, and fatalities. By following accepted lock-out/tag-out (LOTO) procedures to disable machinery or equipment, you can prevent unexpected energization, start-up or release of stored energy. Don't assume a system is in a zero-energy state.

What do you know about ISM?
The NSLS ESH&Q group has just finished a series of interviews with staff and visitors to collect feedback on the department Enhanced Work Planning and Integrated Safety Management programs. Thirty people were interviewed and the information collected is summarized in a report that includes conclusions, recommendations, and lessons learned.

What is the NSLS ESH Safety Improvement Committee?
In the course of our daily lives at the NSLS, there are a variety of avenues provided to the staff and the users to speak our minds, make suggestions and provide feedback. In 2004, the NSLS ESH Improvement Committee (ESHI) was formed in coordination with the NSLS worker occupational health and safety (OHSAS) program. This Committee has the freedom to examine environment and occupational safety & health (ESH/OSH) issues in all aspects of the NSLS workplace with the goal of suggesting improvements to management in the safety environment and culture of the NSLS.

NSLS OHSAS Refresher Training
As everyone is well aware, we have been incorporating the requirements of OHSAS 18001 into our ESH program at the NSLS during 2005. Implementation of the new criteria did not produce significant change in our ESH program, but it did introduce a new risk assessment process for examining the hazards and risks associated with working at the NSLS. There were 38 job risk assessments (JRA) and 9 facility risk assessments (FRA) developed as a part of this process. You can take a look at the results of this effort and its linkage to worker qualification on the NSLS OHSAS web page, as well as review the basics of OHSAS 18001 in the refresher training.